Election observers say a last- minute rush to qualify their volunteers has hampered efforts to oversee the two-week voter registration process, which begins Saturday, for the commune elections.
Pok Nanda, chair of the NGO Coordinating Committee, said she has appealed to Kassie Neou, vice president of the National Election Commission, to fix bureaucratic problems that threaten to delay approvals for some observers.
“Some people in the remote areas may not be able to get their [observer] cards,” she said.
Koul Panha, director of the election monitor Comfrel, said his organization is still awaiting approval from provincial election commissions for his organization’s 2,879 observers.
“Comfrel is concerned on how to get cards for our observers on time,” Koul Panha said.
The observers plan to watch the NEC’s 2,160 registration teams as they fan out around the country between Saturday and Aug 16 to register the country’s 6.2 million eligible voters.
An official at the NEC said the organization no longer has a spokesperson. Attempts to reach former spokesperson Leng Sochea were unsuccessful.
Thousands of observers are expected to watch over the registrations, including 1,672 from Coffel, 40 from Outreach, and 3,397 from the Neutral Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia.
At least some of the observers’ panic was eased this week after a meeting sponsored by the National Democracy Institute and the UN High Commission for Human Rights. Nicfec Executive Director Hang Puthea said many of his concerns were cleared up at the meeting, and that he expects all his observers to get approval and move to their assigned areas on time.
The registration, to take place at 12,373 registration centers, will last three days. Eligible voters will register from July 21 to Aug 16. Election officials will post voter lists from Sept 20 to Sept 24.
Each station can register only 700 people. If the station registers 700 people and more people have yet to register, the NEC is asking voters to go to another station. People have to register in the commune in which they live. People should also vote at the station at which they registered.
Eligible voters will be required to show one of the following documents: an ID card, a voter registration card from the 1998 national elections, a birth certificate or a police or civil servant ID card.
Eligible voters will get a laminated registration card with their picture on one side and their thumbprint on the other. The card is required to vote. Overseas Cambodians are not eligible to vote. There are no absentee ballots.
