Bangkok: “Saeng” explains the legal aspects of electoral district demarcation. ‘Saeng’ explained the legal aspects of redrawing electoral districts. He stated that if parliament is dissolved in early 2026, the population figures from the end of 2025 must be used for calculations. The district demarcation must be completed within 5 days of the royal decree announcing the election, to allow parties time to allocate candidates to the various constituencies.
According to Thai News Agency, Mr. Saeng Boonmee, Secretary-General of the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT), posted on Facebook stating that regarding the division of parliamentary constituencies and population figures, if the parliament is dissolved at the end of one year but the election is held at the beginning of the following year, the population figure from the last declared year will be used. According to Article 12, once a royal decree announcing an election is issued, within 5 days the ECT must announce the number of constituencies each province should have, the registration period, and the election date. Article 26 stipulates that in dividing constituencies, the total population of the country should be based on the population registration records announced in the last year preceding the election year.
Mr. Saeng stated that the population figure for calculation is usually used in cases where the election must be held within the same year as the royal decree announcing the election. In practice, this is usually clear: the population figure of the last year before the election is used. However, a problem might arise if the parliament is dissolved at the beginning of the year, which could coincide with the announcement of the end-of-year population figures. In the past, the Ministry of Interior has announced this around mid-January each year. The Election Commission must calculate the required constituencies based on the population figures within 5 days of the royal decree announcing the election, to ensure that candidates and political parties have sufficient criteria to select their candidates. However, the office has prepared for any potential scenarios that might arise.
Mr. Saeng also mentioned a special case where a royal decree was issued in one year, but the election date was set a year later. According to the law, the number of citizens before the year the royal decree for the election was issued should be used, not the number of citizens before the year the election date was set, as per Section 12 combined with Section 16, which designates the year of the election as the election year, not the year of the election date.