Ly Menghour
The Mekong Times
The National Election Committee (NEC) on Sunday completed the distribution of election materials from Phnom Penh to the nation’s 24 municipal and provincial election committees.
“The shipment includes ballot papers, voter lists, indelible ink, and pens,” NEC Secretary General Tep Nytha said last weekend, adding that the transportation was monitored by representatives of political parties, NGOs officials and reporters.
“We have also asked police officials to protect the transportation of the materials,” he added.
More than 10 million ballot papers have been printed for the nation’s 8.1 million eligible voters, with around 32,000 bottles of indelible ink supplied to 15,255 polling stations nationwide, according to NEC figures.
Speaking at a press conference Friday, an NEC official asked that election observers file complaints immediately if they uncover any irregularities during the election process.
“If any irregularity is found at a polling station during the July 27 election, the observers should make a verbal protest to a polling station chief, even if they are busy with the [election] process,” said Som Chandina.
He added that if the case is serious, observers have to submit the complaint to the Commune Election Committee (CEC) no later than July 28, at 11:30am, and asked observers to verify the number of ballot papers after voting closes at 3pm.
Tep Nytha said the counting procedure will be different from the last election in 2003.
“In the last election, ballot papers were collected and stored at CEC offices for a night before they were counted and sent to the municipal and provincial election committees,” he said. “At this election, ballot papers will be counted at each polling station after the voting is finished.”
The counting process will be observed by political party representatives and NGO officials, with the outcome first announced at each polling station before first the CEC and then municipal or provincial election committees are given the results, he said.
Koul Panha, director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel), expressed concern over the new procedure, fearing the results obtained by the CEC would be different from the one at polling stations.
However, Tep Nytha said that the new procedure will make the election result more transparent than ever before. “We have invited representatives of political parties and NGOs to inspect all processes, and we will not do it secretly,” he said.
“The shipment includes ballot papers, voter lists, indelible ink, and pens,” NEC Secretary General Tep Nytha said last weekend, adding that the transportation was monitored by representatives of political parties, NGOs officials and reporters.
“We have also asked police officials to protect the transportation of the materials,” he added.
More than 10 million ballot papers have been printed for the nation’s 8.1 million eligible voters, with around 32,000 bottles of indelible ink supplied to 15,255 polling stations nationwide, according to NEC figures.
Speaking at a press conference Friday, an NEC official asked that election observers file complaints immediately if they uncover any irregularities during the election process.
“If any irregularity is found at a polling station during the July 27 election, the observers should make a verbal protest to a polling station chief, even if they are busy with the [election] process,” said Som Chandina.
He added that if the case is serious, observers have to submit the complaint to the Commune Election Committee (CEC) no later than July 28, at 11:30am, and asked observers to verify the number of ballot papers after voting closes at 3pm.
Tep Nytha said the counting procedure will be different from the last election in 2003.
“In the last election, ballot papers were collected and stored at CEC offices for a night before they were counted and sent to the municipal and provincial election committees,” he said. “At this election, ballot papers will be counted at each polling station after the voting is finished.”
The counting process will be observed by political party representatives and NGO officials, with the outcome first announced at each polling station before first the CEC and then municipal or provincial election committees are given the results, he said.
Koul Panha, director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel), expressed concern over the new procedure, fearing the results obtained by the CEC would be different from the one at polling stations.
However, Tep Nytha said that the new procedure will make the election result more transparent than ever before. “We have invited representatives of political parties and NGOs to inspect all processes, and we will not do it secretly,” he said.
