Eight face criminal charges over attempt to probe barcodes on ballots

Eight individuals, including a politician, an academic, a reporter, and ordinary citizens face criminal charges, including sedition, after they attempted to decode the barcodes printed on ballot papers to demonstrate a lack of transparency in the 2026 general election.

On Tuesday (20 October), a petition was filed with the Justice Ministry against eight individuals requesting it to refer the case to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) for legal proceedings in a case concerning ballot barcodes, according to several news outlets.

They were charged with sedition, membership of an unlawful secret society, tampering with confidential documents, and violation of the Computer Crime Act. The Ministry revealed that the petition was under review.

The lawsuit stems from an incident on 22 February when an election was re-run in Constituency 15 in Bangkok’s Khan Na Yao District. 

At the time, citizens gathered at one polling station to observe vote-counting to ensure electoral transparency. They allegedly took photos of marked ballot papers and zoomed in to display the controversial QR codes attached to the ballot papers. They also attempted to decode the barcodes in question to demonstrate that the elections lacked transparency.

Those accused include People’s Party MP Parit Wacharasindhu , former Election Commissioner of Thailand Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, photographer Songpon Ruengsamut from the media outlet Spacebar, Prinya Thaewanarumitkul of Thammasat University’s Faculty of Law, and four other citizens. 

Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) Deputy Secretary-General Kanchit Charoen-in had previously revealed that the ECT decided to pursue legal proceedings over the same incident on charges including obstructing officials in the performance of their duties, importing false information into a computer system, sedition, membership of a secret society aimed at committing illegal activities, and tampering with confidential information. 

Among the charges, sedition and membership of a secret society carry the most severe penalty, with a maximum sentence of seven years. To sustain the second charge, it must be proved that the accused were ‘members’ of a permanent group formed with the intent to commit unlawful acts.

Charges of sedition and membership of a secret society have historically been used against political dissidents and criminal groups considered threats to national security.

Thailand’s 2026 general elections given rise to multiple concerns over electoral transparency and the ECT itself has faced a legitimacy crisis over its competence after several abnormalities were flagged, including a high number of discrepancies between the numbers of ballot papers for constituency MPs and party list MPs.

Another serious concern was the discovery of unique barcodes and QR codes on ballot papers, potentially revealing how each voter cast their vote; this could lead to voiding the elections. The concern prompted heated debate and multiple legal challengesagainst the ECT.

Members of the general public have attempted to prove that ballot papers were traceable by decoding sample papers, and it was reportedly found that individual voters could be identified.

A dozen complaints were filed against the ECT for allegedly infringing on voters’ rights and freedoms, potentially violating ballot secrecy. 

However, the Constitutional Court later ruled that there was no illegality in the use of barcodes. It concluded that the barcodes on the constituency ballot papers could not be used to identify how individual voters voted.