The National Election Committee (NEC) received 139 complaints from people and representatives of political parties after it closed the voter registration exercise. Observers have called on the NEC to address the complaints, while names of deceased voters are to be deleted from the lists on December 2.
NEC deputy secretary-general Som Sorida told The Post on December 6 that of the complaints, 138 were filed with commune councils and one directly with the NEC. Thirty-eight complaints had been resolved by commune councils on December 5.
“Another complaint was filed with the NEC by the League for Democracy Party (LDP) for punishing councillors in Svay Ontor district’s Teuk Thla commune in Prey Veng province. The NEC had already studied the complaint, but has yet to make a decision,” he said.
Sorida said most of the complaints came from LDP representatives who called for the deletion of people’s names from the voter lists.
The LDP claimed those they complained about had no sufficient conditions and residences to be registered in the commune.
But upon studying the matter, the NEC said firstly, the LDP did not possess any letter issued by the authorities stating that a named person had no real residence in a particular commune.
He said in other cases, people had asked for the spelling of their names and some other data to be revised. But two people – one in Tbong Khmum province and the other in Prey Veng province filed suits with the NEC for retaining names in the voter lists that the commune councils had agreed to delete.
NEC spokesman Hang Puthea said the NEC had addressed complaints by political party representatives and people based on existing procedures and the election law.
He said the NEC has never contravened procedures and was most careful in addressing each complaint. In the first stage, it had to address the complaints at the commune council level.
If complainants do not accept a solution and the decision of the commune councils, then the NEC will review the complaints and come to a decision.
However, if the complainants continue to object to the NEC’s decision, they can file a complaint with the Constitutional Council.
“After addressing and finalising the decision on the complaints, the NEC will post a validated voter list on December 31, for the forthcoming elections,” he said.
LDP Secretary-General Chin Thon said all complaints by his party were accompanied with evidence and that it did not consistently file complaints for the sake of it. On his expectations to address them, he said the LDP just wanted the truth to prevail.
“This matter is not only for the LDP but for those who want the truth about the future of the Kingdom. Most of the complaints we filed concerned the movement of people who registered illegally in particular communes as they have no residences there,” he said.
Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections (NICFEC) director Sam Kutheamy said the first time posting and dissemination of voter lists and names to be deleted from it is a good process. But political party representatives have a right to file complaints if they identify irregularities.
“The NEC should address the complaints perfectly after receiving them to ensure that the final voter list is perfect and correct for names in communes, the Senate and the National Assembly in the forthcoming elections,” he said.
