Big Election Turnout? Not for Cambodians
If Cambodia were to claim the same percentage of voters as Tuesday's US election, there would be cause for worry, not celebration, expe
The victory of US president-elect Barack Obama surprised theworld Tuesday, but another surprise was the high number of US voters, perhaps the most in 100 years. The high number was amazing for the US, but if Cambodia put up the same numbers inan election, election experts say, it would beworrisome. “The worry is that when the [Cambodian] participation rateis down, it is usually linked with intimidation and threat,” said Koul Panha,executive director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections. “But [UScitizens] are in a democratic country; they have full freedom to express theiropinions.” UScitizens have been voting for more than 200 years, 44 presidential electioncycles, he said. According to Real Clear Politics, a monitoring group, an estimated 64.1percent of registered voters participated in Tueday’s US election. That is higher than in any presidential election since 1908, when WilliamHoward Taft won and 65.7 percent of voters turned out. By comparison, the 1960 election of John F. Kennedy saw a 63.8percent turnout, while the election of George W. Bush in 2004 drew 55.3 percent. In Cambodia’snational election this July, turnout fell to 75 percent from more than 90 percent inthe 1993 Untac polls. Members of civil society and opposition officials say thelowered turnout has a negative effect of the democratic process here. “The turnout of more than 60 percent is a high score in the US presidential election, compared with the pastUSelections,” said Hang Puthea, director of the Neutral and Impartial Committeefor Free and Fair Elections. “But for Cambodia, like a country intransitional democracy, the absence of voters is due to buying votes and otherproblems that prevent voters from deciding to vote.” “If the turnout in Cambodia is down, it’s because thepeople do not have any more confidence in the election process,” said Ke Sovannaroth, acting secretary-general of the Sam RainsyParty, which sent a letter ofcongratulations to Obama and US voters Thursday. “They lackinformation for voting. They receive threats and intimidation.” However, National Election Committee Secretary-General TepNitha said the threats and intimidation was not the real cause of the lowerturnout in July. “There were many threats during the 1993 election, and theturnout was more than 90 percent,” he said. “But in 2008, voters were safer,but the turnout was down. It is different, compared to the US election. Inthe USelection, they voted for change.” In 2008, more than 8 million Cambodians registered to vote. In 2013, thatnumber is expected to reach 9.5 million.