Prime Minister Hun Sen, accompanied by his wife Bun Rany, shows his inked finger after voting in Kandal’s Takhmao town. Heng Chivoan
A representative of the National Election Committee (NEC) reported that about 440,000 spoilt ballots had been logged over the July 23-24 period.
NEC deputy secretary-general Som Sorida told The Post on July 24 that of the total 8,212,411 ballots cast, 7,772,615 were deemed valid with the remainder identified as spoilt.
“These roughly 440,000 spoilt ballots constituted around four per cent of the total vote. This figure is fewer than those recorded in the 2018 general election,” he noted.
Sorida further clarified that the NEC was not privy to the number of spoilt ballots, saying the information was available to the vote counting commissions.
The spoilt ballots – deemed invalid due to incorrect marking or accidental or deliberate damage such as being torn, soiled or marked in a way that would identify the voter – were packaged and placed in designated boxes.
“These spoilt ballots were not included in the final count by our election officials. The spoilt ballot never makes its way into the ballot box,” said Sorida.
The preliminary results released late on July 23 indicated a sweeping victory for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) with 120 seats, while the royalist FUNCINPEC Party claimed five. Led by Prince Norodom Chakravuth, FUNCINPEC took one seat each in Phnom Penh and four provincial constituencies of Prey Veng, Kampong Cham, Kandal and Kampong Thom provinces.
Yang Kim Eng, president of the People’s Centre for Development and Peace, struck a negative note, claiming that voter reluctance was high due to a lack of favoured political parties.
However, he acknowledged the intelligence of those who opted to vote for FUNCINPEC.
“The people voted for FUNCINPEC because they didn’t want a single party controlling the National Assembly (NA). They were seeking democracy in Cambodia. However, FUNCINPEC’s political messaging failed to sway public sentiment,” he said.
Kim Eng added that the failure of certain political parties to secure NA seats was largely due to their inability to effectively campaign and disseminate their political programmes to local communities and the populace in general.
Meanwhile, Yem Ponharith, vice-president of the Khmer National United Party (KNUP), said that based on preliminary results, his party had not yet received enough votes to secure an NA seat.
“We express our gratitude to all Cambodians for participating in the polls on July 23. Our party pledges to continue our efforts in the political arena to prioritise the welfare of Cambodia and its people,” he said in a July 24 social media post.
CPP spokesman Sok Eysan could not be reached for comment on July 24. However, in an interview with the US-funded Radio Free Asia (RFA) on the night of July 23, he praised the strong will of voters in their democratic participation.
Kin Phea, director of the International Relations Institute at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, lauded the “significant” turnout of over 84 per cent of eligible voters.
“This demonstrates that the people chose to exercise their democratic rights, opting for peace over social chaos, and showing a clear preference for the CPP,” he said.
As the election has drawn to a close, NEC chairman Prach Chan urged the public and all political parties to remain calm and await the official results.
“I call on all concerned parties to remain calm and patient as we work towards declaring the official election results,” he said.
The announcement of the final results is expected to take place between August 9 and September 4.
