Nida Poll reveals that the public did not anticipate the Election Commission's decision to prosecute in the Senate election collusion case. They also show no concern over potential political unrest arising from it. The poll indicates that the current Election Commission will face intense political and legal battles going forward.
On 20 Sep 2026 GMT+7, the opinion survey center “Nida Poll” of the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) released results of a survey titled “Election Commission’s Resolution.” Conducted from 15-16 Sep 2026 GMT+7, it sampled 1,310 respondents aged 18 and over across all regions, education levels, occupations, and incomes nationwide. The survey focused on the Election Commission's resolution to forward the Senate election collusion case to the Supreme Court and criminally prosecute 77 accused individuals, including 26 current senators. Sampling employed probability methods from Nida Poll's Master Sample database, using multi-stage sampling. Data were collected via telephone interviews, with a maximum sampling error of 0.05 at a 97.0% confidence level.
The survey asked respondents to predict the Election Commission's decision on prosecuting 77 accused individuals in the Senate election collusion case, including 26 current senators. Results showed 34.27% said they never anticipated this outcome, 21.00% said it matched their expectations closely, 17.86% said it did not match their expectations at all, 15.50% said it somewhat matched their expectations, 10.84% said it did not really match their expectations, and 0.53% were unsure or did not respond.
When asked about concerns over potential political unrest following the Election Commission's decision on the Senate election collusion case, 35.34% of respondents said they were not worried at all, 30.46% said they were somewhat worried, 19.16% said they were not very worried, and 15.04% said they were very worried.
Regarding which individuals or groups are expected to face intense political and/or legal battles following the Election Commission's resolution on the Senate election collusion case, 35.57% named the current Election Commission, 31.53% named Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, 25.42% named all government coalition parties, 15.88% named the 77 accused individuals to be prosecuted, 13.97% named the Bhumjaithai Party, 13.66% were unsure or did not respond, 8.24% named the 26 senators to be prosecuted, 7.86% named opposition parties, 6.64% named senators not facing prosecution, 4.58% named former Election Commissioner Somsak Srisuthiyakorn, and 2.14% named Yingcheep Atchanont and iLaw.