Organized Electoral Fraud in Cambodia

June 21, 2012

ORGANIZED ELECTORAL FRAUD IN CAMBODIA

The following is further evidence of organized electoral fraud in this month’s communal elections based on the well-planned issuing of illegal voter identification documents ("Statements of Identity" previously known as "Forms 1018") to inflate votes for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).

The evidence was collected by Mr. Lak Kien, an opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) local leader who, on voting day, June 3, was still the elected chief of Bet Trang commune in Preah Sihanouk province. This meant he was in a position to conduct a serious investigation into the fraud.

By clicking http://tinyurl.com/7ve9n6k you will see documents showing that illegal "Statements of Identity" were secretly and fraudulently issued by CPP officials in Bet Trang commune on the day of the vote.

More precisely there are the references of eleven official booklets, each of them containing fifty "Statements of Identity" with their serial numbers. These "Statements of Identity" were to be issued by Bet Trang commune authorities BEFORE voting day to voters residing in the commune who don’t have the standardized National Identity Card.

But illegally produced "Statements of Identity" have been discovered whose serial numbers DO NOT MATCH their supposed serial numbers as printed on the document stubs in the above-mentioned 11 official booklets. Some of these fraudulent "Statements of Identity" were seized by Mr. Lak Kien on voting day, just minutes or hours after being illegally and surreptitiously issued by CPP officials.

This is not an isolated case. It is part of a pattern of secret, illegal and nationwide fraud under which the CPP issues “Statements of Identity” to manufacture votes for itself.

Combined with other irregularities related to voter disenfranchisement and impersonation, the fraud has led to the distortion of the will of the people. Please find details at http://tinyurl.com/cmmpbd5

In their report on the last national elections in 2008, a team of observers from the European Union made the "key recommendation" that "the use of the Form 1018 should be abolished prior to any future election."

Please read the rationale behind this recommendation at http://tinyurl.com/78epon9 (E.U. Election Observation Mission) and further evidence of systematic fraud at http://tinyurl.com/77hj2us (The Cambodia Daily).

No reform has been implemented, no lesson learnt since the 2008 national elections which, according to the E.U. observers, "fell short of a number of key international standards for democratic elections. "

Sam Rainsy

Elected Member of Parliament

Opposition leader