The Election Commission explained that discrepancies between party-list and constituency vote counts appearing in the ECT Report were caused by data entry errors by election officers. It pointed out that vote counting in Chonburi Constituency 1 is considered complete and final.
At 2:00 p.m. on 13 Feb 2026 GMT+7, Mr. Kanchit Charoenin, Deputy Secretary-General of the Election Commission, together with Acting Lt. Pasakorn Siripakayaporn, also Deputy Secretary-General, Mr. Kittipol Phayakkadechapun, Director of the Information Technology Office, and Mr. Worapong Ananchareonkij, Director of the Election Support Office, held a joint press conference on the general election and referendum at the Election Commission's office on the second floor.
Mr. Kittipol Phayakkadechapun, Director of the Information Technology Office, explained the issue of mismatched ballot data appearing on the EC website. He said the ECT Report 69 system compiles vote counts from all polling stations to inform the public of leading candidates at each reporting time, presenting unofficial results. The unofficial reporting process requires election officers to submit results via the system by photographing the official station tally sheets (Form S.S.5/18), which contain the final vote counts posted at each polling station. The officers then enter these results into the system for three categories: constituency votes, party-list votes, and referendum votes.
There is a central district scoring center responsible for correcting errors and verifying data submitted by election officers. Once verified, the data is published on the ECT Report 69 dashboard. Regarding fluctuating and mismatched scores in the ECT Report, Mr. Kittipol explained that when the district scoring center receives data for a box, it verifies that the data entered by election officers matches the center's records. If confirmed, it is approved and published on the dashboard. However, since the system is designed to report all three categories simultaneously rather than individually, the district scoring center cannot verify each category separately. This explains why vote counts vary among the categories.
He gave the example of Khon Kaen Constituency 11, where the total candidate votes exceeded the number of eligible voters. The office investigated and found data entry errors, which were corrected to align with the certified Form S.S.5/11 results provided by the election officers at the polling stations.
Mr. Kanchit Charoenin, Deputy Secretary-General of the Election Commission, stated that general petitions for recounts must be submitted from the date the EC announces the election date until 30 days before the official announcement of results. Special recount requests must be submitted while counting is ongoing, and complaints about score consolidation must be filed before consolidation is complete. In the case of Chonburi Constituency 1, the petition was submitted after counting had finished. Nevertheless, the EC assigned him to verify facts by interviewing both petitioners and respondents and reviewing evidence. Of the ten petitioners, six appeared, while some leaders claimed to have witnessed events but were not questioned. When asked if they could provide statements, they said they were "unwell," so they were not compelled to testify. After thorough verification, the vote counting was deemed complete for Constituency 1. The EC also invited Mr. Worath Sirirak, a candidate from the People’s Party, for discussion prior to recording his statement.
Furthermore, Mr. Kanchit noted that the EC investigated the ballot box consolidation process amid disputes over vote-marking formats. He acknowledged that the marking style was genuine; in Chonburi, constituency votes were marked by writing candidates’ names, while party-list votes used printed formats. Each province’s approach differs. He affirmed that the vote counting process has concluded.
Acting Lt. Pasakorn, Deputy Secretary-General of the EC, commented on the commission’s decision not to recount votes in Chonburi Constituency 1 announced yesterday. Subsequently, the local election committee moved ballot boxes from the gymnasium to the community hall for storage. Regarding concerns about some boxes lacking cable tie seals, investigation revealed these were boxes for storing scrap materials and destroyed equipment, so they were not secured with cable ties.