National Election Committee (NEC) spokesman Hang Puthea yesterday promised the body would release electoral lists for vetting after it finished registering voters, but conceded the process faced a tight deadline.

Puthea made the pledge in response to concerns raised by stakeholders yesterday at a roundtable discussion hosted by election watchdog Comfrel.

“The NEC is preparing an MoU [memorandum of understanding] with the National Democratic Institute [NDI],” Puthea said.

“The Electoral Reform Alliance will use NDI’s budget to audit the voter registration list’s integrity. The NEC will provide the list; there is no problem.”

At the meeting at Phnom Penh Sunway hotel, Comfrel and the EU, which is supporting the elections with a €10 million ($11 million) funding package, called for the body to work more transparently.

Puthea said the registration process – which will see about 10 million eligible voters logged in a new digital system – was still on track. He said digital equipment paid for by the EU would arrive on July 15, while registration would start in September.

However, having delayed the process several times, the NEC now has no opportunities for breaks until the election next June. The workload was also not helped by the imprisonment of NEC deputy secretary-general Ny Chakrya, who was tasked with auditing the NEC’s work, Puthea said.