Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Identification for election security officials selected

Identification for election security officials selected

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
A police official, with a blue band on his left arm, guards a polling station at Wat Phnom High School in the capital’s Daun Penh district during an election in 2018. Heng Chivoan

Identification for election security officials selected

The National Election Committee (NEC) announced that it has selected a form of identification for the security officials who will be responsible for safety and public order during this year’s general election. The guards will be on duty from July 22, the day before the election, until the NEC deems them unnecessary.

According to the January 6 announcement, the guards will wear light blue armbands cut from a light cloth. The 12cm wide bands display the NEC’s logo and the words “Election Security Agent 2023”.

All official election security personnel must wear the armbands on their left upper arms while on duty, with the NEC logo and words visible.

NEC spokesman Som Sorida said the security forces that would use the armbands would be provided by the government. The NEC’s guidelines state that each polling station must have three security guards, one inside the station and two outside. The two guards stationed outside must remain within 100m of the polling station.

“Public order must be protected during the upcoming election,” he added.

Sam Kuntheamy, executive director of the NGO Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (NICFEC), said the armbands would make it easy to identify the security team at each polling station.

“The NEC makes sure security is provided at every election, so it needs an efficient way to identify them to the public,” he added.

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Wat Phnom hornbills attract tourists, locals

    Thanks to the arrival of a friendly flock of great hornbills, Hour Rithy, a former aviculturist – or raiser of birds – in Kratie province turned Phnom Penh tuk tuk driver, has seen a partial return to his former profession. He has become something of a guide

  • PM urges end to ‘baseless’ international Ream base accusations

    Prime Minister Hun Sen urges an end to “baseless” foreign accusations surrounding the development of the Kingdom’s Ream Naval Base, as the US has consistently suggested that the base is being expanded to accommodate a Chinese military presence. Hun Sen renewed his calls while

  • Almost 9K tourists see equinox sunrise at Angkor Wat

    Nearly 9,000 visitors – including 2,226 international tourists – gathered at Angkor Wat on March 21 to view the spring equinox sunrise, according to a senior official of the Siem Reap provinical tourism department. Ngov Seng Kak, director of the department, said a total of 8,726 people visited Angkor Wat to