At least 800,000 national ID cards will expire by the end of the year. The General Department of Identification urged the holders of expired or near-to-expiry cards to renew them as soon as possible.
An October 25 meeting to discuss the issue was presided over by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sar Kheng. Also present were Sak Setha, permanent secretary of the ministry, Net Savoeun, National Police Chief and Kang Sakhorn, director-general of the identification department.
During his opening remarks, Sar Kheng said the issue was pressing, as the National Election Committee (NEC) was currently in the process of registering new voters and updating the details of current ones.
Sakhorn said more than 12 million people currently hold national IDs, with 800,000 of them set to expire by the end of December. On average, the department is issuing about 3,000 new cards per day.
“By July next year – the month of the national elections – more than one million ID cards will have expired. Naturally, some cardholders may have passed away, been sentences to prison or migrated abroad, but it is still a concern,” he added.
Sakhorn urged authorities at all levels to remind people to check that their identity cards remained valid.
Khmer identity cards are valid for 10 years from the date of issue. Therefore, an ID card provided in October 2012 would have expired, or be about to.
In order to ensure their right to exercise their democratic responsibility and vote in the upcoming National Assembly election, the department called on all citizens whose cards had expired, or would do so in the next 90 days, to visit the administrative office in their commune or village – or a one window service office – and complete the paperwork for a new card.
According to the NEC, 2022 voter list review and registrations will run for 50 days, from October 20 to December 8.
