Ghost Voters Pose Elusive Problem in Elections
By Pin Sisovann and Elizabeth Tomei
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
Election monitors voiced concern this week that there may be hundreds of thousands of ghost voters registered to participate in April's commune elections.
"Ghost voter" refers to names that appear on commune voting lists of people who do not live in the commune, have died or simply do not exist. Election monitors are concerned that individuals may use the ghost names to vote, potentially swinging the outcome of elections.
The Committee for Free and Fair Elections said in a report received Tuesday that the number of registered ghost voters increased from an estimated 4 percent of the registered electorate in 2003 to 10 percent in 2005. This means there were at least 600,000 ghost voters among the around six million registered voters last year, said Koul Panha, executive director of Comfrel.
"Ten percent can do a lot [to an election result].... One or two percent is okay, but 10 percent is a very significant concern," he said.
He added that he does not yet have ghost voter figures for this year.
The Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free Elections in Cambodia worked with Comfrel to research ghost voters and has the same figure for 2005, Nicfec Director Hang Puthea said.
Ghost voters can appear when registered voters die or move to new communes, or can be the result of clerical mistakes, he said.
But monitors say that a ghost voter rate of 10 percent is far higher than the standard margin of error. This has prompted concerns that the voting list may have been tampered with on a large scale.
Kek Galabru, founder of rights group Licadho and chair of the board of the Nicfec, said that keeping ghost voters on registration lists may be a conscious decision by officials at commune or provincial levels who overwhelmingly belong to the CPP.
"I think there are some real human errors, but I think some may be manipulated intentionally," she added.
Tep Nytha, NEC secretary general, said there may now be 150,000 ghost voters—around 2 percent of the current registered electorate.
"I don't know how [Comfrel] found that the figure increased," he said.
Around 80,000 ghost names have been deleted from the voter list so far this year, he said. Over one million new voters were registered in October, according to the NEC.
Tep Nytha said it will be impossible for people to cast ghost votes, as the NEC will appoint six neutral people to guard every polling station during the elections.
Government spokesman and CPP Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said the ruling party has not interfered with voter lists, and said that voting monitors and party agents present at the polls will prevent anyone from voting under a ghost name.
"When elections come, there are always allegations of fraudulent ballots," he added.
"Ghost voter" refers to names that appear on commune voting lists of people who do not live in the commune, have died or simply do not exist. Election monitors are concerned that individuals may use the ghost names to vote, potentially swinging the outcome of elections.
The Committee for Free and Fair Elections said in a report received Tuesday that the number of registered ghost voters increased from an estimated 4 percent of the registered electorate in 2003 to 10 percent in 2005. This means there were at least 600,000 ghost voters among the around six million registered voters last year, said Koul Panha, executive director of Comfrel.
"Ten percent can do a lot [to an election result].... One or two percent is okay, but 10 percent is a very significant concern," he said.
He added that he does not yet have ghost voter figures for this year.
The Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free Elections in Cambodia worked with Comfrel to research ghost voters and has the same figure for 2005, Nicfec Director Hang Puthea said.
Ghost voters can appear when registered voters die or move to new communes, or can be the result of clerical mistakes, he said.
But monitors say that a ghost voter rate of 10 percent is far higher than the standard margin of error. This has prompted concerns that the voting list may have been tampered with on a large scale.
Kek Galabru, founder of rights group Licadho and chair of the board of the Nicfec, said that keeping ghost voters on registration lists may be a conscious decision by officials at commune or provincial levels who overwhelmingly belong to the CPP.
"I think there are some real human errors, but I think some may be manipulated intentionally," she added.
Tep Nytha, NEC secretary general, said there may now be 150,000 ghost voters—around 2 percent of the current registered electorate.
"I don't know how [Comfrel] found that the figure increased," he said.
Around 80,000 ghost names have been deleted from the voter list so far this year, he said. Over one million new voters were registered in October, according to the NEC.
Tep Nytha said it will be impossible for people to cast ghost votes, as the NEC will appoint six neutral people to guard every polling station during the elections.
Government spokesman and CPP Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said the ruling party has not interfered with voter lists, and said that voting monitors and party agents present at the polls will prevent anyone from voting under a ghost name.
"When elections come, there are always allegations of fraudulent ballots," he added.
3 comments:
The ghost voters go hand in hand with ghost (arb) parties SRP claims to exist.
SiS
One solution to minimize the ghost voter from voting is to have voting poll in every village. The people who live in the village know who live in that village and whether they can vote or not. Another solution is to have finger print electronically scan during check in.
Are you kidding ? .Hun sen will not allow that to happen.Electronic fingers scanning machine? forget it.Cambodia is a poor country, people cannot afford it.So trorm tam kam tov.
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