Photo: Pring Samrang, Cambodge Soir Hebdo11 June 2008
By Leang Delux
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
Election observers accompanied by the National Election Committee (NEC) officials visited the shop printing voting ballots. Some criticisms and observations were made.
On Wednesday 11 June, representatives of 11 political parties, election observers and journalists were invited to visit the shop printing the voting ballots for the upcoming July general election. The group was able to learn about the different aspects of the ballot printing by the Ly Van Hong printing shop in Phnom Penh which also printed the ballots for the commune election in 2007. 10,454,400 ballots will be printed at a cost of $1.6 million.
Those invited to attend the visit were able to see firsthand the print shop. However, cameras and cell phones were not allowed inside. A firefighting truck and some cops were present at the shop, they are standing guard permanently on the spot to insure the security of the building.
The NEC logo appears on each voting ballot, as well as the vote precinct code number and a message explaining how to check mark the selected party during the vote. A table provides a list of the parties, their respective number, logo, name and the box to check. Parties not presenting candidates in a particular precinct do not appear on the table, and only a shaded line marks its name on the ballot.
Kuoy Bunroeun, a SRP observer and MP, protested to the NEC officials about the quality of the paper used. Comparing them to those used in the 1993 election organized by UNTAC, Kuoy Bunroeun noted that “the paper used by UNTAC was special, and if it was photocopied, the logos and codes would not show up clearly on the copies. Here, it seems to me that the paper is ordinary and this concerns me. Furthermore, this print shop is linked to the ruling party. All the government paper works are printed here also.” Tep Nitha, NEC secretary-general, defended against these accusations. According to Tep Nitha, the ballots bear special marks: “I am sorry, I cannot talk about these confidential issues,” he said.
Ou Chanrath, HRP secretary-general, noted that the NEC should ask for an agreement from all the parties before printing these ballots.
A representative of the Anti-poverty party protested against the elimination of the name of parties not presenting candidates in a precinct. “You should have kept the name and the number of the party, because this gives the impression that you are forcing voters to choose among some of the parties which they do not necessarily like.” Tep Nitha immediately retorted: “I don’t understand you. How do you want us to include a party which is not presenting candidates in a precinct?”
Im François, an observer for the Center for Social Development (CSD), who was present among the visitors, made two observations: first, the print shop is isolated and located in a quiet area. Next, the number of extra ballots printed is too high. “The NEC prints 2 million ballots more than the number of voters,” he noted before adding that the CSD will send out about 100 observers during the election, and it will also distribute 500,000 guides for educating the voters about their civic duty for the election.
On Wednesday 11 June, representatives of 11 political parties, election observers and journalists were invited to visit the shop printing the voting ballots for the upcoming July general election. The group was able to learn about the different aspects of the ballot printing by the Ly Van Hong printing shop in Phnom Penh which also printed the ballots for the commune election in 2007. 10,454,400 ballots will be printed at a cost of $1.6 million.
Those invited to attend the visit were able to see firsthand the print shop. However, cameras and cell phones were not allowed inside. A firefighting truck and some cops were present at the shop, they are standing guard permanently on the spot to insure the security of the building.
The NEC logo appears on each voting ballot, as well as the vote precinct code number and a message explaining how to check mark the selected party during the vote. A table provides a list of the parties, their respective number, logo, name and the box to check. Parties not presenting candidates in a particular precinct do not appear on the table, and only a shaded line marks its name on the ballot.
Kuoy Bunroeun, a SRP observer and MP, protested to the NEC officials about the quality of the paper used. Comparing them to those used in the 1993 election organized by UNTAC, Kuoy Bunroeun noted that “the paper used by UNTAC was special, and if it was photocopied, the logos and codes would not show up clearly on the copies. Here, it seems to me that the paper is ordinary and this concerns me. Furthermore, this print shop is linked to the ruling party. All the government paper works are printed here also.” Tep Nitha, NEC secretary-general, defended against these accusations. According to Tep Nitha, the ballots bear special marks: “I am sorry, I cannot talk about these confidential issues,” he said.
Ou Chanrath, HRP secretary-general, noted that the NEC should ask for an agreement from all the parties before printing these ballots.
A representative of the Anti-poverty party protested against the elimination of the name of parties not presenting candidates in a precinct. “You should have kept the name and the number of the party, because this gives the impression that you are forcing voters to choose among some of the parties which they do not necessarily like.” Tep Nitha immediately retorted: “I don’t understand you. How do you want us to include a party which is not presenting candidates in a precinct?”
Im François, an observer for the Center for Social Development (CSD), who was present among the visitors, made two observations: first, the print shop is isolated and located in a quiet area. Next, the number of extra ballots printed is too high. “The NEC prints 2 million ballots more than the number of voters,” he noted before adding that the CSD will send out about 100 observers during the election, and it will also distribute 500,000 guides for educating the voters about their civic duty for the election.
