JURIST - Paper Chase: Second conviction for Thai election commissioners involved in voided vote

[JURIST] Three former employees of the Election Commission of Thailand [official website, in Thai] received their second conviction on Friday for dereliction of duty in the April 2 election [BBC report]. The officials, who are appealing a July four-year sentence for abuse of power [JURIST report], were found to have aided the ruling Thai Rak Thai [party website] party in presenting mock candidates. The election was voided [JURIST report] one month later by the Constitutional Court [official website], which decided that parties had not been given enough time to campaign.

The new head of the Election Commission announced Thursday that a second round of national elections, originally scheduled for October 15, must be postponed until November [IHT report] due to logistical problems. Although Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra [official website; BBC profile] has consistently denied allegations of election fraud [JURIST report], today he commented that he "may take a break" from politics [Xinhua report]. AP has more.

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