The National Election Committee (NEC) has set up a working group to assist the Interior Ministry in distributing microchipped national ID cards, which will be used in the new electronic voting system being introduced next year.

A statement released yesterday by the NEC said the Technical Election Working Group would also be conferring with the Interior Ministry on regulations and procedures to confirm that the information stored on the ID cards is accurate when voters hit the polls.

Speaking yesterday, Koul Panha, executive director of election monitoring NGO Comfrel, suggested some people could struggle to understand the new computerised system, making assistance essential.

“We need official help for voters to clarify their personal information before those individuals leave from the voter registration station,” he said.

According to Panha, only between 3 million and 4 million of the new cards have been issued, leaving the rest of Cambodia’s 10 million eligible voters using the paper cards they are due to replace.

The new system is intended to combat fraud, with testing of the system set to take place in October.