Polling stations at the June 5 commune elections. Heng Chivoan
The National Election Committee (NEC) has announced the recruitment of short-term election officials in preparation for the national elections, which are scheduled for July 23.
It will recruit 175 capital-provincial election officials on temporary contracts.
Each of the capital-provincial election commissions will be made up of a head, deputy head and five members. They will assume responsibility for administration, financial affairs, technical operations, legal services, dispute resolution and security, education and public relations.
The NEC is accepting applications for the roles for a one week period, which began on December 31. Applications will close on January 6.
NEC deputy secretary-general Som Sorida explained that the NEC has four structures – the national election committee, the capital-provincial election commissions, the commune election commissions and the polling station commissions.
“All of the officials are offered short-term contracts, bar the national committee who are on five-year contracts. The short-term contracts are for a five or seven month period, during an election year, he said.
Though the capital-provincial commissions are dissolved after each election, there are electoral secretariats on standby in each capital and province.
The 2022 commune council elections required 23,602 polling stations, but nine additional stations will be employed for the June parliamentary elections, as the number of registered voter has increased.
The NGO Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL) said it intends to deploy as many observers as possible across the Kingdom during next year’s general election.
It said that the 2023 election marks a vital political turning point, as several politicians who were once banned from politics had served out the terms of their bans and are now eligible to contest the election.
COMFREL executive director Kim Chhorn said the organisation deployed nearly 2,000 observers during the commune council elections. Next July, it plans to position over 23,000 observers at polling stations across the country.
“We intend to have an observer in every single one of the polling stations. Perhaps it will not be possible, but we are striving to gather the resources we will need. In any case, we will deploy as many observers as possible,” he added.
