NEC Begins Voter Update for Next Election
The National Election Committee made a public call on Wednesday for Cambodian voters to register and update their information with comm
The National Election Committee made a public call onWednesday for Cambodian voters to register and update their information withcommune leaders. Those eligible to vote have until Oct. 20 to update theirlocal voter lists in order to participate in future elections. The next nationwide election will be held in 2012, whenvoters elect commune council members. The NEC updates voter registration listsevery year. "It is very important that people participate in theelection," said Tep Nitha, secretary-general of the NEC. "They mustgo check their names on voting lists to avoid the problem of a lost namein the coming election. And the young generation who will be 18-years-old by theend of 2008 must go ask to be registered on the voter list of thecommune." The NEC took two months following July's election to updateits lists, and Tep Nitha said Wednesday between 250,000 to 350,000 youths willbe of voting age this year. Opposition leaders and election monitors said followingJuly's election the voter registries were inaccurate, making itdifficult for some to vote and displaying some names twice. Problems with registration have caused apathy in some of thevoting public, said Hang Puthea, executive director of the Neutral andImpartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia. "We see the announcement of the NEC in communeheadquarters," he said, "but it seems that people are less interestedafter the general election and people are not well informed."