The Election Commission explained that it is responsible for announcing referendum results and reporting them to the Prime Minister and the Speaker of Parliament as mandated by law. It noted that the difference in the 2016 referendum was due to the addition of a "No Opinion" option.
On 8 Mar 2026 GMT+7, reporters reported that the Election Commission Office issued a clarification document regarding the announcement of referendum results after criticism arose questioning why it could not declare whether this referendum passed or not. The Commission confirmed that the announcement follows the law, summarizing the results of the referendum held on 8 Feb 2026 GMT+7 on the issue "Do you approve of the adoption of the new constitution?" as follows.
1. This referendum result announcement was conducted according to the Referendum Act of 2021 and its amendments, which have different criteria and voting formats compared to the referendum held on 7 Aug 2016 GMT+7, which followed the Referendum Act on the Draft Constitution of 2016.
2. The referendum on 8 Feb 2026 GMT+7 included three voting options on the ballot: Approve, Disapprove, and No Opinion, differing from the 2016 referendum which did not include a “No Opinion” option. This led to the current results report including a category “No Opinion” as well as spoiled ballots.
3. The Election Commission's announcement of the referendum results consists of declaring the number of eligible voters, voter turnout, and vote counts for each choice based on the tally. The Commission is required to publish the results in the Government Gazette and report to the Prime Minister and the Speaker of Parliament, pursuant to Section 68 of the Referendum Act of 2021.
