Election Framework

The 27 July 2008 National Assembly elections will be the fourth parliamentary elections since the signing of the Paris Peace Accord in October 1991 which ended a conflict which lasted for over a decade. The first post-settlement elections were held in 1993 and organised by the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). Subsequent parliamentary elections were held in 1998 and 2003, under Cambodian authority but with significant international support. Both of these elections were observed by the European Union, as were the 2002 Commune Council elections.

Election System and Eligibility

According to the Constitution, the National Assembly consists of at least 120 members elected for a five-year term under a proportional representation system. Currently there are 123 members of the new National Assembly. They will be elected from 24 constituencies, which correspond to the second-level administrative units (20 provinces and four municipalities). Constituencies are represented in the National Assembly by between one and 18 members. There is no threshold specified in the law for gaining parliamentary representation.

Cambodian citizens who are 18 years or older on election day, who are registered in the commune where they will vote, and who are not serving a prison term or under guardianship have the right to vote.

Candidates must be registered voters of at least 25 years of age, be Cambodian citizens from birth, be registered in Cambodia and nominated by a political party. Certain categories of voters, including civil servants, police and army personnel, monks, election administrators and members of several top-level courts may not be candidates unless they resign their position before the start of the election campaign. Persons convicted to prison terms for a felony or misdemeanour may not run unless they have been rehabilitated.

Election Administration

A four-level structure administers parliamentary elections in Cambodia: the National Election Committee, 20 Provincial Election Commissions and four Municipal Election Commissions ( PECs), 1,621 Commune Election Commissions (CECs), and 15,254 Polling Station Commissions (PSCs). The Law on the Election of Members of the National Assembly (LEMNA) defines the NEC as “an independent and neutral body”, and stipulates that members of the election administration at all levels “shall be neutral and impartial”. NEC has nine members who must give up their membership in a political party upon their appointment. NEC is assisted in its work by a General Secretariat.

Voter Registration

A permanent voter register was introduced in Cambodia after the 2002 Commune Council elections. Maintenance of the voter register, which is updated annually, is the responsibility of the NEC, which for the last revision delegated the task of registering voters to the Commune Councils and Commune Council clerks. The most recent update took place between 15 September and 20 October 2007. The NEC validated the final voter list on 29 February. The total number of voters on the final voter list is 8,124,391.

Party Registration

Candidate list registration took place from 28 April to 12 May. Twelve political parties applied, out of which 11 were registered by the NEC. To be able to register candidate lists with the NEC, political parties must be registered with the Ministry of Interior and fulfil a number of requirements as stipulated by the law. Political parties submit separate candidate lists for each constituency. The number of candidates on each candidate list must be equal to the number of seats allocated to the constituency. Parties are not obliged to run in all constituencies, but the total number of registered candidates must be at least one third of the total number of seats in the National Assembly.

Polling Arrangements

On 27 July, voting will take place from 07:00 to 15:00 hrs. Voters may only vote in the polling station where they are included on the voter list and have to produce an ID document in order to vote. As a safeguard against multiple voting, voters’ fingers are marked with indelible ink. There are a total of 15,254 polling stations for the upcoming elections.

The vote count takes place in the polling station, immediately after the end of voting. After the vote count, protocols and election material are delivered to the CEC, which aggregates the results and prepares consolidated minutes for the elections in the commune. These minutes are then transferred to the PEC, which aggregates the results at the provincial/municipal level. Finally, the results from the PEC are transmitted to the NEC, which checks all polling station results, aggregates the results and announces the preliminary national results.