PHNOM PENH - Officials from the National Election Committee met with more than a dozen foreign diplomats on Wednesday, explaining to them the voter registration process and other regulations.
The meeting comes following threats from the opposition it is considering boycotting the 2013 national parliamentary elections due to perceived political bias at the NEC.
The NEC says it has registered some 405,000 new voters this year and stricken about 140,000 names from the national voter registry.
Opposition officials say the NEC has skewed election laws toward to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, that its registration and voting procedures are confounding many rural Cambodians and that the agency turns a blind eye toward breaches of election law by CPP officials at the national and local levels.
Sin Chumbo, NEC’s vice chairman, discussed with diplomats from 13 countries, including the US, the process of registration and management of voter lists.
Robert Patterson, country director for the International Foundation for Election Systems, said the discussion with the NEC had “covered a lot of ground. “It’s very good,” he said. “Very comprehensive.” The voter list is as good as it possibly can be, he said.
The meeting comes following threats from the opposition it is considering boycotting the 2013 national parliamentary elections due to perceived political bias at the NEC.
The NEC says it has registered some 405,000 new voters this year and stricken about 140,000 names from the national voter registry.
Opposition officials say the NEC has skewed election laws toward to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, that its registration and voting procedures are confounding many rural Cambodians and that the agency turns a blind eye toward breaches of election law by CPP officials at the national and local levels.
Sin Chumbo, NEC’s vice chairman, discussed with diplomats from 13 countries, including the US, the process of registration and management of voter lists.
Robert Patterson, country director for the International Foundation for Election Systems, said the discussion with the NEC had “covered a lot of ground. “It’s very good,” he said. “Very comprehensive.” The voter list is as good as it possibly can be, he said.
