NEC Opens Ballot Packages for Election Result Verification

Cambodia (Kohker) – The National Election Committee (NEC) began to open ballot packages known as Safety Packages “A” for verification of election results at some polling stations in Kratie constituency this morning.

The opening process started at around 8 O’clock at the NEC headquarters in Phnom Penh at the instruction of the Constitutional Council. Representatives from the Constitutional Council, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), Royalist Funcinpec Party, local and international observers and journalists were present on the occasion.

The opposition CNRP had appealed to the Constitutional Council against the NEC’s decisions of its complaints of irregularities of the July 28 general election. The Constitutional Council dismissed several of the opposition party’s complaints. On Friday, the council ordered the NEC to open 13 packages from 13 polling stations in Svay Chhrum commune, Kratie constituency in order to investigate the opposition party’s claims of election irregularities there.  

  

The Safety Packages “A” contains original data on ballot counting and ballot sheets collected from polling stations on the polling day.

According to the preliminary results announced by the NEC recently, the CPP has won 68 of the 123 seats in the National Assembly, against 55 for the CNRP, but the opposition party claimed it had won 63 seats. The election dispute between the two parties has caused Cambodia to face a political deadlock, as the opposition party warns to hold mass protests and the government has deployed armed forces and armored personnel carriers in Phnom Penh capital and its surrounding provinces.