Page 17 - รายงานผลการปฏิบัติงานคณะกรรมการการเลือกตั้ง ประจำปีงบประมาณ พ.ศ. 2565

Executive Summary

The Election Commission is an Independent Organ according to the Constitution
of the Kingdom of Thailand, B.E. 2560 (2017). The Constitution mandates that the

Election Commission be independent and politically neutral, with the responsibility to
control, manage, and monitor elections at both national and local levels, including the
referendum. This is to ensure that the elections proceed in an honest, just and lawful

manner. The aforementioned mission involves opportunities, limitations, issues, and
challenges that need to be overcome to make the Election Commission an accepted

organisation by all parties.

In fiscal year B.E. 2565 (2022), although the situation of the spread of COVID-19
pandemic has started to ease, vigilance is still required. The Election Commission and the

Office of the Election Commission (OECT) still have the duty to hold and supervise the election of
local government organisations in Bangkok, Pattaya City, and 5,300 Subdistrict Administrative
Organisations. This includes organising the election of Members of Local Council or Local

Administrators and the election of members of the House of Representatives to fill vacant seats.
The Amendment of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand (No. 1) B.E. 2564 (2021) amended

the electoral process, resulting in the necessity to amend the two related Organic Acts, namely,
the Organic Act on the Election of Members of the House of Representatives and the Organic Act
on Political Parties. The two Organic Acts are required to be in accordance with the amended

Constitution. This also led to changes in the electoral process, including an increase in the number
of constituency based members in the House of Representatives from 350 to 400 and an

increase in the number of party-list based members from 150 to 100. Additionally, the voting
method changed from a single ballot system to a two-ballot system. There have also
been changes regarding fees and political party maintenance fees which must be collected

from political party members, the application of candidates, as well as constituency based
and party-list based candidate selection. The Election Commission, aware of its duty to
accelerate operations to promote understanding among all sectors, must develop and

upgrade work practices to align with the office’s mission and Strategic Plan. This can be
achieved by driving and expanding cooperation with both public and private sectors,
collaborating with other organisations, and creating a continuous network through projects

and activities related to people participation, including voters, political parties, and
election officials. Modern information technology is being used appropriately and continuously

รายงานผลการปฏิบัติงานคณะกรรมการการเลือกตั้ง ประจ�าปีงบประมาณ พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๕ ฎ