Barcode vote row
Re: "Barcodes may make poll void", (BP, Feb 20). With due respect to those prominent legal scholars, especially Prof Wissanu Krea-ngam, the presence of barcodes and QR codes printed on each ballot paper could render the entire general election process void.
This is due to the cardinal rule in any country's constitution that voters' choices are supreme and void of being known to others. Indeed, some believe that one should not reveal one's choice and regard questions about it as impolite, just as one would regard asking about one's marital status.
However, the present attacks on the Electoral Commission (EC) could be an academic exercise if the EC's barcodes and QR codes are merely references to each voter's voting paper and are used only if the EC, as an umpire for fairness, is required to open them. Previously, in the pre-digital age, the EC merely used numerical sequences as references when needed.
As being neither an expert on constitutional law nor the workings of the codes, I stand corrected for my naivety, but certainly do not like the whole voting on Feb 8 being declared void due to an academic reading.
If it had happened, it would not only have been a shame to the commissioners but also to Thailand's credibility.
Songdej Praditsmanont
EC selection flaws
Re: "Senators push to halt approval of EC candidates", (BP, Feb 19).
Our Election Commission's (EC) increasingly obvious incompetence makes us need to find out how our EC selection process could have turned out so badly. We should urgently review our candidate screening process and make any required improvements. Only then should we fill any EC vacancies. This means the Senate should pause the two EC vacancies before it now.
Developed democracies have election systems that ensure nobody can tell whom I voted for after I've cast my ballot, while also ensuring highly secure storage. It's notable that Donald Trump has been vociferously shouting that the 2020 election was "stolen" from him. Yet of the 60 court cases his supporters filed on this matter, they won only a single case (which concerned missing addresses, etc, on mail-in ballots). No case brought involved immigrants.
Improve the candidate selection process first, then send the name to the Senate for review.
Burin Kantabutra
Get back to basics
Re: "Blind to the truth", (BP, Feb 19) & "Seeing the light", (PostBag, Feb 21).
Back at the time, before apps were developed for each and every issue, the problem of colourblindness and traffic lights was solved with some very pragmatic means:
RED = circle
YELLOW = triangle
GREEN = square
This simple reintroduction would mitigate the potential risks of colourblindness, regardless of vertical or horizontal arrangement, and would reduce the flood of apps by at least one.
T Ashley
