Kamnotra’s live blog will track events and happenings during the national election today, including statements from the National Election Committee, updates from political parties, news reports from journalists and publications reporting from across the country and the results.
8:35 p.m.
Update | CPP Says 300,000 Spoiled Ballots, Opposition Member Arrested
CPP spokesperson Sok Eysan estimated there will be around 300,000 spoiled ballots when the final results are in, adding that the ruling party would receive more than 80% of the vote. He was speaking to Radio France International.
CamboJA News also reported Sunday night that a former CNRP official from Banteay Meanchey, Chao Veasna, was arrested this evening after he was named as one of 30 people allegedly linked to a Telegram group where they discussed spoiling ballots.
7:15 p.m.
Update | NEC Says Turnout At 84.58%, Assessing Boycott Punishments
National Election Committee chairman Prach Chan said preliminary voter turnout in Sunday’s election was 84.58%, which is higher than the 80.3% and 83.02% in the last two elections.
The NEC has so far released only one official document on voter turnout, with government officials independently releasing multiple turnout numbers in unsigned and unconfirmed documents. One such document disseminated by Fresh News showed voter turnout at 84.21%, with turnout increases in 19 of 25 provinces this year compared to the 2018 election.
Chan was speaking at the NEC’s election day press conference. He said there was a sustained campaign to get people to boycott the election or spoil their ballots, but the NEC worked to ensure people voted on Sunday.
NEC member Tep Nytha said the election body doesn’t have any specific measures to identify voters who specifically crossed out their ballots — as requested by Hun Sen in an audio message released after voting today — but that posting photos of a spoiled ballot was a “mistake” because it affected the secrecy of the election.
Nytha said the NEC was still not sure how many people had been arrested or will be fined for spoiling their ballots, and only said he was aware of two people who were arrested for trying to take their ballots out of the polling station.
6:17 p.m.
Update | Hun Sen Threatens Legal Action Against Ballot Spoiling ‘Movement’
National Election Committee chairman Prach Chan said preliminary voter turnout in Sunday’s election was 84.58%, which is higher than the 80.3% and 83.02% in the last two elections.
The NEC has so far released only one official document on voter turnout, with government officials independently releasing multiple turnout numbers in unsigned and unconfirmed documents. One such document disseminated by Fresh News showed voter turnout at 84.21%, with turnout increases in 19 of 25 provinces this year compared to the 2018 election.
Chan was speaking at the NEC’s election day press conference. He said there was a sustained campaign to get people to boycott the election or spoil their ballots, but the NEC worked to ensure people voted on Sunday.
NEC member Tep Nytha said the election body doesn’t have any specific measures to identify voters who specifically crossed out their ballots — as requested by Hun Sen in an audio message released after voting today — but that posting photos of a spoiled ballot was a “mistake” because it affected the secrecy of the election.
Nytha said the NEC was still not sure how many people had been arrested or will be fined for spoiling their ballots, and only said he was aware of two people who were arrested for trying to take their ballots out of the polling station.
5:10 p.m.
Update | Unofficial Turnout Keeps Rising
Pro-government Fresh News and Khmer Rouge Tribunal spokesman Neth Pheaktra have continued to post increasing voter turnout numbers two hours after polls closed, with no official word from the NEC. Pheaktra’s latest Twitter post claims 83.83%. Fresh News claims 84.21%.
4:50 p.m.
Update | Vote Counting Underway
News reporters from various outlets are monitoring vote counting at several polling stations, including those seeing spoiled ballots. Jonathan Head, a BBC reporter, said on Twitter that one polling station had 11% spoiled ballots. CamboJA news has posted photos of large “X”es struck across ballot papers and check marks ticked on multiple parties. Some journalists have reported being blocked from entering and photographing polling stations.
Neth Pheaktra, a Khmer Rouge Tribunal spokesman, posted an unofficial voter turnout document on Twitter with turnout purportedly increasing to 83.83% — higher than the 83.02% of 2018.
4:31 p.m.
Update | ‘Sabai’ Suspects Rise to 40
Fresh News’s count of Telegram users wanted from the “Sabai” group has risen to 40, and includes Chao Veasna, a former opposition CNRP commune councilor in Banteay Meanchey.
Separately, a 35-year-old Phnom Penh man was reportedly arrested during the morning for taking a photo of his spoiled ballot. Fresh News said NEC officials at the polling station in Meanchey district became suspicious and asked to see the man’s phone, then arrested him and sent him to Stung Meanchey II police.
3:51 p.m.
Update | Changing Numbers
Government mouthpiece Fresh News posted a purported NEC document showing a turnout of 7,601,326, or 78.28%, as of 3:16 p.m. Fresh News’s headline, however, said 81.48%. The document was soon deleted from the website, with the higher headline figure remaining. The NEC has not issued an official update.
Hang Puthea told CamboJA the reason for the discrepancy between Fresh News and the NEC was technical difficulties: “This [78.28%] is not a final number because we have challenge with internet service.”
3:44 p.m.
Update | Unofficial Turnout
The NEC has been quiet online this afternoon, but pro-government website Fresh News and Khmer Rouge Tribunal and Environment Ministry spokesperson Neth Pheaktra have posted documents purportedly showing voter turnout numbers. The latest of the unofficial numbers show 77% turnout as of 2 p.m. This is in line with around 83% and 80% turnouts in 2018 and 2022.
3:01 p.m.
Update | Polls Close
Polling stations are closing their gates at the 3 p.m. deadline, with no official word yet on today’s turnout. The National Election Committee has scheduled a 6 p.m. press conference, and some early results are expected this evening. The number of Telegram users wanted by authorities from the “Sabai” group has reportedly risen to 36.
2:36 p.m.
Update | NEC Still Using Fresh News for Voter Turnout Numbers
The National Election Committee has only released a single official document for voter turnout today, and has instead fed information to government-friendly Fresh News.
The NEC released official turnout figures as of 11 a.m., but has since not released any new turnout documents. Environment Ministry spokesperson Neth Pheaktra posted an unsigned NEC document to Twitter showing that voter turnout was 74.02%, or 7.18 million voters, at 1 p.m. Fresh News then reported at 2:21 p.m. that voter turnout had increased to 77.51%, citing information from an NEC member.
1:51 p.m.
Update | More Social Media Users Targeted
Pro-government Fresh News has now posted the photos of 32 out of 34 Telegram users wanted by the government in relation to spoiled ballots.
1:13 p.m.
Update | Government Further Raises Fears Over Spoiled Ballots
The government’s lawyer has called for social media surveillance over fears of voters spoiling their ballots, while government mouthpiece Fresh News posted the photos of 26 users whom authorities have targeted for legal action.
Government lawyer Ky Tech on Sunday called on all lawyers to cooperate in monitoring social media for people who post about spoiled ballots, according to Fresh News. The pro-government website also reported that authorities had identified 27 members of a Telegram group, “Sabai,” to target for legal action over incitement, and posted photos and other identifying details for 26 of them.
12:48 p.m.
Update | NEC Releases Official Turnout Numbers, 59% at 11 am
The NEC released its first official update for voter turnout in Sunday’s election. Turnout was 59.15% across the country as of 11 a.m.
Voter participation was highest in Kep at 72%, followed by Prey Vihear at 66%, Svay Rieng at 65.4%, and Pursat at 64.27%.
Bigger provinces, which have also been opposition strongholds, lagged behind. Phnom Penh logged 57.2%, Siem Reap, Kandal and Battambang at 59%, Kampong Cham at 55.3% and Banteay Meanchey at 38.5%.
Additionally, National Election Committee spokesperson Dim Sovannarom told CamboJA at 11:46 a.m. that 64.12% of registered voters had voted and listed the number of votes cast as more than 6,226,585.
11:48 a.m.
Update | Interior Ministry Warns of ‘Illegal Rebels’
The Interior Ministry said it was monitoring a Telegram group called “Sabai” that was trying to disrupt the election using “the tactics of illegal rebels,” according to Fresh News.
Meanwhile, Tbong Khmum police arrested a man who refused to dip his finger in ink after voting, and later found drugs in his urine, Fresh News said.
11:25 a.m.
Update | Fresh News Says Voter Turnout Reaches 48.5%
Pro-government website Fresh News reports voter turnout stands at 48.5%, or 4.71 million votes, as of 11 a.m. The website again quoted NEC member Dim Sovannarom. The NEC has yet to release official voter turnout tallies for the entire country or provinces.
Environment Ministry spokesperson Neth Pheaktra also tweeted the same voter turnout numbers on Twitter.
Fresh News reported at around 10 a.m. that turnout was around 30%, again quoting the NEC’s Sovannarom.
10:42 a.m.
Update | Fresh News Says Voter Arrested
Pro-government website Fresh News reported that authorities had arrested a Phnom Penh voter for walking out of a polling station with his ballot. On its Telegram channel, Fresh News categorized the action, at Wat Mohamandrey Primary School in Boeng Keng Kang district’s Olympic commune, as having “the intention of disrupting the election.”
The website also reported that authorities in Kampot and Takeo provinces had identified four suspects who “posted fake ballots by marking the ballots” with the intention of incitement.
10:25 a.m.
Update | NEC Official Says Turnout at 30% as of 10 am: Fresh News
National Election Committee member Dim Sovannarom told Fresh News that 3.2 million voters had voted as of 9:57 a.m. this morning. The NEC or Sovannarom have not released an official count of voter participation yet.
There are around 9.7 million registered voters for this election. So, according to Sovannarom’s numbers, close to a third, around 30%, of registered voters have cast their ballot this morning.
10:00 a.m.
Update | Sam Rainsy Posts ‘Spoiled Ballots’
Former CNRP president Sam Rainsy took to Facebook this morning to post photos of election ballots purportedly spoiled by opposition supporters. He asks supporters to send photos of their spoiled ballots to the Telegram account of exiled opposition activist Seng Meng Bunrong.
Also, pro-government Facebook personality Pheng Vannak said on Facebook that officials were looking for people who were spoiling their ballots.
“Breaking! The authorities are pursuing the person who spoiled the ballot and posted it on Facebook, please do not cross it because of Rainsy’s incitement, beware of prison!” he post on Facebook.
Around 17 opposition members were fined and stripped from the voter list for up to 25 years for asking voters to spoil their ballots today.
In 2018, spoiled ballots accounted for nearly 9% of the vote and was a result of a boycott call from the opposition CNRP, which has been forcibly dissolved in November 2017.
8:00 a.m.
Update | CamboJA Live Blog on Election Updates
Local independent news outlet CamboJA News has a live blog tracking all updates from today’s election.
Track the election with CamboJA here: https://cambojanews.com/live-updates-national-elections-2023/
7:00 a.m.
Update | Polls Open at 7 a.m., 18 Parties Vie for 125 National Assembly Seats
Voting has begun at 23,789 polling stations across the country. Polls close at 3 p.m. after which vote tallies will begin to trickle in on state media.
Follow Kamnotra’s live blog for all the updates, announcements and results from the NEC, political parties and news organizations covering today’s election.
6:55 a.m.
Update | Hun Sen Meets International Election Observers on Silent Day
Prime Minister Hun Sen hosted delegations of international observers for today’s election, claiming this was the biggest observer contingent from overseas.
The event was held at the Peace Palace where Hun Sen said around 85 groups were in the country to monitor the election. He was joined by his son Hun Manet, who is a CPP candidate from Phnom Penh, Kandal candidate and foreign minister Prak Sokhonn, other members of parliament and officials.
The meeting was held on Saturday, which is also called the Silent or White day. The NEC prohibits any politicking on the Saturday before an election, including the publication of news about the election.
6:51 a.m.
Update | NEC Admits “Vote Counting Errors” During 2022 Commune Election
The National Election Committee on Friday admitted to vote counting errors during the 2022 commune election, but said they did not amount to “serious irregularities” that affected the outcome of last year’s local election.
The NEC statement was released on government-friendly Fresh News on the last day of campaigning and was in response to a report released by Human Rights Watch in June, which alleged counting irregularities in Phnom Penh. The U.S.-based rights group had reviewed 1102 forms from all polling stations in Phnom Penh and found errors with vote tallies, the use of white ink to amend information and faults with observer signatures on documents.
Rights groups and election watchdogs have in the past talked about the importance of independent observers in polling stations to flag irregularities and errors.
6:48 a.m.
Background | Election’s Imbalances Tilt Against Women, Phnom Penh
An analysis of the party candidate lists reveals that the average age of Cambodian People’s Party candidates on the ballot today is 69 years, whereas the Cambodian Youth Party, true to its name, had an average age of 39. The average age of candidates for all parties was 48.
Also, there has been little improvement in women’s representation on the candidate lists. While the aptly named Women for Women Party had close to 80% women candidates, major parties like the CPP and Funcinpec could only muster 13% and 6%, respectively.
Read more: https://kamnotra.io/en/2023/06/elections-imbalances-tilt-against-women-phnom-penh/
6:40 a.m.
Background | Domestic Election Observers Skew Towards CPP
Around 80% of election observers in Cambodia’s 23,789 polling stations will come from organizations linked to the prime minister’s son and one of his deputy premiers.
Read more: https://kamnotra.io/en/2023/07/80-of-election-observers-linked-to-ruling-party/
6:30 a.m.
Background | Minor Political Parties Fail to Register Polling Agents
Ten political parties running in the July national election have not registered even a single party agent to observe voting and ballot counting at the more than 23,000 polling stations across the country.
Read more: https://kamnotra.io/en/2023/07/80-of-election-observers-linked-to-ruling-party/
