Clip fuels Senate poll doubts

Parit says footage backs fairness concerns

People’s Party list-MP Parit Wacharasindhu has released what he described as video evidence related to the investigation into alleged collusion in last year’s Senate election. He urged the Election Commission (EC) to clarify its actions and allow the courts to determine the outcome of the case.

In a social media post, Mr Parit said the footage was provided by a complainant who had submitted information to parliament last week. He said his team enhanced the audio and blurred the faces of those appearing in the clip.

Mr Parit said the video was recorded during the national-level Senate election on June 26, 2025, around 7pm during the cross-voting round.

The footage allegedly shows a female EC official and a male individual, whom Mr Parit said preliminary checks identified as one of the seven Election Commissioners, inspecting and collecting voting notes or “cheat sheets” from Senate candidates.

Mr Parit said remarks heard in the video appeared to acknowledge concerns the election process may not have been conducted fairly.

While noting that candidates making notes about fellow candidates before casting votes may not necessarily constitute an offence, Mr Parit raised several questions regarding the incident. He asked what EC officials saw on the notes, or what accompanying behaviour they observed, that prompted one official to say: “Please, you’re about to become senators. Please vote honestly.”

He also questioned whether the commissioners convened immediately after collecting the notes to consider evidence and determine whether action should be taken under Section 59 of the Senate Election Act, which empowers the EC to suspend, halt, modify, cancel, or order a new election if there is reasonable suspicion that the vote was not conducted honestly or fairly.

Mr Parit also asked what became of the collected notes after the election results were announced and whether the documents had been examined alongside other evidence in the Senate collusion investigation, including witness testimony, meeting records, and financial trails.

He also questioned whether the notes and any subsequent findings had been incorporated into the case file compiled by Investigation Committee No. 26, whose findings are currently under review by the EC. The MP said the EC issued a statement last year explaining that bringing documents containing candidate numbers into polling areas did not automatically constitute an offence.