CAMPAIGNING TO vote for or against the charter draft is legal but any efforts to call for a boycott of the referendum would be illegal, Election Commission (EC) member Somchai Srisuthiyakorn said yesterday.

“Anyone trying to block the referendum from being held will face up to a Bt3-billion civil lawsuit,” he said.

Somchai was speaking after meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam regarding the details of holding the referendum in July or August.

He said campaigns to reject the charter draft would be regarded as within people’s right to express their opinions but they must not be used as political tools to favour or disadvantage particular political groups. Campaigns are also banned from using false information and mudslinging. Electoral complaints can be filed the same as in a general election.

“Everyone can freely express views about the charter draft but not create division. EC officials will also be punished if they do not carry out their duties impartially. Officials will face much harsher punishment if they are found in violation,” Somchai said.

He added that students and local leaders such as kamnan and village heads could convey correct information about the charter draft content but they should not directly advocate voting for or against the draft.

Somchai said the government wanted the deciding referendum criteria to be a majority of voters who cast ballots, not a majority of total eligible voters, as was conveyed during a previous meeting with Wissanu. But there had been further discussions about the wording in the interim charter that would clarify the issue.

Somchai said he had given a message to Wissanu for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha that the EC wanted the results of the public referendum to be acceptable to the public, including the referendum procedure.

The government also wanted to expand the voter base by allowing voters who were 18 as of January 1 to have the right to vote in the referendum. Somchai said he had not yet checked how many more people would be eligible if the move was implemented.

He added that the EC would not ask the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to cancel the ban on political gatherings, because campaigners who used stages authorised by the EC would be within their legal rights.

Somchai said the referendum date would be held a week before or after July 31. The exact date will be announced later.

The charter draft will be disseminated to the public starting on April 9. The EC plans to provide stages for parties to campaign to reject or accept the draft.

The EC will also print 1.2 million copies of a full version of the draft, which will be distributed to the offices of local leaders, schools and libraries in communities.

Another 6 million copies, not more than 20 pages long, will summarise the content of the charter draft and be given to members of the public.

Another 17 million copies of an abridged draft will be distributed to households of eligible voters.

The funds allocated for printing totalled Bt200 million, down from an earlier estimate of Bt800 million. The EC will also disseminate the content of the charter draft through mobile device applications and websites in both the full and abridged versions.

He said holding the referendum would cost Bt3.4 billion or less.