National Election Committee has produced an education program to prepare people for the upcoming voter registration process, an NEC official said Thursday.
NEC spokesman Leng Sochea said 201 instructors received NEC training earlier this month and will proceed to administer a three-day course to 185 commune councils about the registration process, which is different than in previous years.
The NEC’s efforts also include 53 different educational materials—including posters and leaflets—which will be sent out to all 24 provinces and municipalities, Leng Sochea said. The education program cost $400,000.
The NEC spokesman also urged party members and election monitoring NGOs to help get the word out to eligible voters.
“The election process is better this time than it was before because local authorities are participating,” Leng Sochea said. “I hope many people will vote.”
For the scheduled July general elections, commune councils are to produce a definitive list of the area’s voters by posting previous voting lists. Commune residents can then verify or challenge the posted list.
Leng Sochea said the lists will be posted Wednesday. Voters whose names aren’t on the list can complain to the council at that time. Voters who are already listed need only take note of the polling station to which they have been assigned.
People registering for the first time—including those who didn’t vote in the 2002 commune elections, those who just turned 18 or those who have moved—can do so at the commune office starting Jan 17. They must have proof of citizenship, age and residency, Leng Sochea said.
Registration will close Feb 15.
The NEC education campaign follows a Dec 20 directive from the Ministry of Interior, which stated that the NEC must ensure that the commune councils have the capacity to carry out the registration and must monitor them to determine that they do so according to the law.
