# Thailand election ballot marking legality dispute > Live situation record from CLSTR: https://clstr.news/situations/thailand-election-ballot-marking-legality-dispute > Updated: 2026-10-22T02:55:45.000Z. Sources: 7. Developments: 2. Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled that the use of QR codes and barcodes on ballots during the February 8 general election was legal. The court found that QR codes on constituency ballots could not be used to identify voters, and while barcodes on party-list ballots were technically traceable, they were intended to prevent counterfeiting. The court's decision, reached with a 9:0 vote on QR codes, upheld the election results and the coalition government led by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. Following this, the Minister of Justice referred a complaint to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) involving eight individuals, including politicians and academics. The complaint alleges offenses related to sedition, criminal association, and computer crimes concerning the decoding of ballot markers to link voter information. The DSI has been tasked with conducting a preliminary investigation. ## Timeline ### 2026-10-22: Thailand Justice Minister refers election ballot investigation to DSI Thailand's Justice Minister has referred a case involving eight academics, politicians, and media figures to the DSI for investigating alleged illegal decoding of election ballot QR codes. 2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/thailand-justice-minister-refers-election-ballot-investigation-to-dsi ### 2026-09-27: Thailand's Constitutional Court upholds legality of ballot QR codes Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled that QR codes and barcodes on election ballots are legal, upholding the validity of the February 8 general election and the current government. 6 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/thailand-constitutional-court-to-rule-on-election-ballot-legality --- Cite as: Thailand election ballot marking legality dispute. CLSTR, https://clstr.news/situations/thailand-election-ballot-marking-legality-dispute