Police in Takeo province’s Prey Kabbas district are investigating the theft of equipment from a Prey Lvea commune voter registration office on Thursday.

National Election Committee voter registration department head Top Rithy said the thief or thieves broke the building’s lock and swiped all but the registration laptops, which are stored off site as the office has no electricity to charge the machines.

Calling it “the first of its kind”, Rithy said the theft – which netted a computer monitor, digital camera, fingerprint scanner, flash drive, network cables and a portable charger – did not affect the registration process.

The data on the laptops remained secure and the NEC’s provincial office quickly re-supplied their commune counterparts, he said.

Reached yesterday, Prey Kabbas district police chief Chum Cheoun said officers were investigating the break-in. He said it appeared the intruders had rifled through boxes in the building looking for valuables.

“The officials discovered the theft about 7am the next day,” he said.

“Our brothers had locked the door, but on the night they were not on guard . . . they were careless because it was raining.”

The NEC is currently working to register Cambodia’s 9.6 million eligible voters on new digital lists before the end of next month.

Rithy, of the NEC, said the body often reminded its staff to be cautious of theft.

“The NEC has issued much guidance for its officials and constantly reminds them to be on alert,” he said.