The Election Commission plans to have electronic voting machines developed in Thailand ready for use at the next general election, EC secretary-general Puchong Nutrawong said. He said the equipment is being developed in coordination with Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Ltd. The latest version could cater for up to 30 candidates at a time. The voting buttons were bigger than early versions and the candidate ballot numbers would be clearly lit up. Only the numbers of actual candidates would be available for selection. Once a number is selected a paper slip would be printed out to reassure voters that the machine has actually recorded that particular number.
The machine would then display its readiness for the next voter, ensuring a convenient and speedy balloting process.
Mr Puchong said the electronic voting machine is designed to fit into a lightweight, compact, portable case that can be folded up in the polling station booth.
The EC office has tested the electronic voting machines through various stages of development since 2002. The current model is the fourth generation, he said. It has won an invention award for 2013 from the National Research Council of Thailand.