A majority of the national observers for this month’s election will come from organizations associated with the ruling party, National Election Committee registrations show.
According to recent press releases issued by the National Election Committee, more than 65 organizations have submitted observers to monitor the national elections.
But four larger organizations make up the bulk of the registrations: Cambodian Women for Peace and Development, the Cambodian Democratic Student Intellectual Federation, the Union of Youth Federations, and the Committee for Free and Fair Elections.
These four organizations combined have contributed more than 90% of observers since 2017, and three of them have connections to the ruling party — meaning that at least 80% of the total observers in the upcoming election have associations with the government.
The Big Four
National observers are tasked with visiting polls on election day — July 23 this year — and checking for any irregularities through both the voting process and the end-of-day ballot tally. The number of observers have grown since the 2012 and 2013 elections, but they increasingly come from the top organizations, with smaller organizations contributing fewer observers.
During the 2012 commune election and 2013 national election, the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, an NGO, was the largest contributor of election observers, registering 5,763 in 2012 and 6,842 in 2013.
The Cambodian Democratic Student Intellectual Federation came next, contributing 3,129 observers in 2012 and 4,508 in 2013. CDSIF’s secretary-general is San Visal, who is also a secretary of state for the Rural Development Ministry.
This landscape changed with the following election in 2017, which saw the introduction of observers from UYFC and CWPD, two organizations that were both founded in 1978 and share goals of contributing to the reconstruction of Cambodia. These two organizations have been the largest contributors of observers from 2017 through this upcoming election, and both have deep connections to the government.
UYFC is headed by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s son Hun Many, while CWPD’s president is Deputy Prime Minister Men Sam An.
Opposition Candlelight Party members, who have been barred from participating in the upcoming election, say that the observers are now just “rubber stamping” a process where another ruling party victory is virtually guaranteed.
Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia
Note: The National Election Committee’s latest available data for the 2018 election was from May, two months ahead of that year’s election, and is likely not the final count.
The largest contributor of election observers since 2017 is the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia. UYFC’s stated goal is to promote “mobilization, education and emulation in amongst young people to take part in defending and reconstruction of the country,” and as such UYFC volunteers are spotted frequently working events like Angkor Sangkranta, the SEA Games hosted in Phnom Penh and giveaways of noodles and soy sauce to lower-income families. Though UYFC has claimed to be an independent organization, its leader Hun Many is the son of Prime Minister Hun Sen and has been campaigning for the ruling party through multiple election seasons.
Cambodian Women for Peace and Development
Most of the women observers are associated with the organization Cambodian Women for Peace and Development. CWPD is both an NGO that provides health and social services, and a charity and volunteer league for the wives of provincial governors — all of whom are currently ruling party members. It is chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Men Sam An. The director of the NGO, Meach Sotheary, has worked for the Women’s Affairs Ministry for at least 14 years, according to a ministry project document.
Cambodian Democratic Students Intellectual Federation
The Cambodian Democratic Students Intellectual Federation has generally been the third-largest contributor of election observers in the last four mandates, and this year is supplying 2,364 observers, or about 3% of the total, according to the NEC. Ahead of this year’s elections, CDSIF announced its support of a newly-passed amendment to the voting law, which would penalize citizens both for choosing not to vote and inciting others to tamper with their ballots. CDSIF also appears to partner with the government-aligned UYFC, frequently sharing its Facebook posts and signing agreements. Its secretary-general, San Visal, is a secretary of state at the Rural Development Ministry and has been campaigning heavily for the Cambodian People’s Party, according to his Facebook page.
Comfrel
The Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel) both provides election observers and assess irregularities and problems during the campaign and voting seasons. They notably did not participate in monitoring the 2018 national election following the dissolution of the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, and then contributed just 26 observers in the 2022 commune election. They resumed providing observers in 2023, but the government voting agency, the National Election Committee, has lobbed accusations at Comfrel that it is sympathetic to opposition Candlelight Party leaders.
Others
Aside from the big four organizations, most groups registered to provide election observers are small, providing between four and a few hundred volunteers to observe ballot activities. These organizations appear to be niche interest groups, with names like the “Traditional and Modern Mental Health Organization” and “Cambodian Federation of Traders Association.”
In addition to national observers, the National Election Committee also registers international observers. Foreign governments including the U.S., Japan and E.U. and its member countries stopped sending international observers after 2018, and this year the Cambodian government is instead set to welcome observers from multinational organizations like the French Speaking Electoral Skills Network and the Economic Community of West African States. The Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation has also promised to send observers, according to the Asian Network for Free Elections.
Political parties also provide agents that monitor and sign off on ballot counts — another category this year dominated by the ruling party.