The National Election Committee (NEC) has requested citizens who do not have a national ID card to apply for an election identification document at the Commune Election Commission in their locality. They should apply within the 30 day period of May 5 to June 3.
NEC spokesman Som Sorida told The Post on May 5 that Article 46 of the Law on the Election of Members of the National Assembly stipulates that in order to be eligible to vote, citizens must be on the voter list and have a valid Cambodian identity card. In practice, some people do not have an ID card, as they are sometimes lost or expired.
“Some people don’t have a card because it has been lost or somehow damaged. Article 169 of the Law on the Election of Members of the National Assembly allows those citizens to use an identification document from the commission to cast their ballot,” he said.
He added that in order to make it easier for people to participate in the democratic process, the NEC and Ministry of Interior had issued joint instructions regarding the forms and procedures needed for the issuance of identity documents, both for voter registration and for the election.
According to Sorida, the documents must be requested at the Commune Election Commission office. When the commission certifies the applicant’s identity, they will print out the necessary papers. Applicants should take the documents to be signed and stamped by the commune chief.
NEC chairman Prach Chan on May 4 requested that information on the issuance of these documents be widely shared – especially to those on the voter list who may have lost their identity card.
Sam Sokuntheamy, executive director of the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (NICFIC), said this system is important as some people have lost the cards, or they expired, and it is important that they be allowed to exercise their democratic rights.
“Only current cards can be used to vote, so if they don’t go and get verification papers with the election commission, they will not be able to participate. If their name is on the voter list, they should definitely go and get certified,” he said.
The NEC will organise a programme on May 6 to show the process of printing ballots for use in the June 5 commune elections at Suon Vattanak Printing at house number 9, street 345, in Boeung Kak I commune of the capital’s Toul Kork district, in the presence of NEC chairman Prach Chan.
