Low Turnout, Faulty Lists Sully Election

Many voters were unable to find their names on registries at local ballot stations Sunday, election monitors say. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

By Reporters, VOA Khmer
Original reports from Cambodia
27 July 2008

Click here to listen to the Khmer audio program

"In Svay Rieng province, voters lined up inside CPP headquarters in order to receive receipts from a party official. Voters said later they would be reimbursed with gifts for the receipts, an allegation the CPP denied. Svay Rieng results showed nearly 100 percent of seats going to the CPP."

Low voter turnout and the absence of many names from registries darkened a quiet day of voting Sunday, as millions of Cambodians sought to elect members of the National Assembly and a government that will rule for the next five years.

Unofficial results showed the ruling Cambodian People's Party with enough seats to form a government by itself, as well as pass constitutional amendments and quorum without cooperation from other parties.

As polling wrapped up Sunday, unofficial results showed the CPP leading with an estimated 91 seats, followed by the Sam Rainsy Party with 26, Human Rights Party with three, and Norodom Ranariddh Party with two. Only one seat was reported late Sunday for the government's coalition partner, Funcinpec.

These results would mean the National Assembly would have five parties for the first time since the 1993 Untac election. Official results for the election are not expected for at least a month.

A new law this election requires the holding of 50-percent-plus-one seats, or 63 seats, to form a ruling government. It also requires a two-thirds majority, or 82 seats, for constitutional amendment and quorum.

In Phnom Penh, many shops were shuttered and the normally bustling boulevards were relatively still, while on neighborhood side streets, Cambodians in ones and twos strolled to and from polling sites.

Across the country, voters reported an inability to cast their ballots, as names of individuals or entire families were missing from local registries at polling places.

More than 8.1 million voters had registered for the national election, but monitors feared only around 70 percent participated, following similarly low turnout in the 2007 commune election. More than 83 percent of registered voters took part in 2003's general election.

The Committee for Free and Fair Elections said late Sunday the day had "serious problems," including the loss of names to voter lists and confusion over polling station locations.

Some parties had transported voters in vehicles on Saturday and distributed gifts to voters, violations of election regulations, Comfrel said.

Military police were seen using vehicles to transport voters in Battambang province, where disputes between opposition and ruling party activists erupted.

In Svay Rieng province, voters lined up inside CPP headquarters in order to receive receipts from a party official. Voters said later they would be reimbursed with gifts for the receipts, an allegation the CPP denied. Svay Rieng results showed nearly 100 percent of seats going to the CPP.

CPP on the rigging of voter lists: Deny! Deny! Deny!

CPP Denies Rigging Voter Lists

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
02 August 2007

A ruling Cambodian People's Party leader Thursday denied allegations that provincial party members were rigging voter lists ahead of next year's national elections.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy charged Wednesday that CPP commune leaders were erasing thousands of names from voter registration lists under the pretext of cleaning them up.

"I would like to deny that allegation," said Heng Samrin, honorary CPP president and head of the National Assembly. "It's not acceptable."

Each party was striving to win the national elections, he said, but there was no fraud involved in CPP activities.

Sam Rainsy claims that as many as 550,000 names could potentially be swiped from voter registration lists in the provinces, for reasons as simple as a voter leaving town on business.

With such deletions, the CPP would easily win the national election, he said Wednesday.

Tep Nitha, secretary-general of the National Election Committee, said his agency had instructed commune chiefs to clean up the lists before Sept. 15, but that potential voters will be able to check those lists until October to ensure their names are still there.

But this approach puts an undue burden on people who are short on free time for such things, Sam Rainsy said.

Koul Panha, director of the independent Committee for Free and Fair Elections, said local officials were often careless of NEC's requests or used their influence to convince people to join the CPP. Cases where voters were taken off lists had been observed in Kampong Cham, Pursat, Siem Reap and Banthey Meanchey provinces, he said.

For example, citizens who left Cambodia to temporarily work in Thailand returned to find themselves no longer eligible to vote, Kuol Panha said.