The National Election Committee (NEC) on Wednesday announced that a beta version of its app has been released to disseminate election news to the public and reduce confusion over fake reports.

NEC spokesman Hang Puthea said the app, called CamNEC News, could be downloaded immediately to receive up-to-date reports, adding that, “so far some news is fake and confusing the public.

“We want the people to go to vote and respect the law. Therefore the NEC needs to use its means to send information and allow users to receive [information] directly from us.”

The app will serve as a permanent communication tool for the NEC. It will employ 15 people and operate under an existing budget.

Local election watchdog Comfrel’s monitoring coordinator Korn Savang said employing new technology to disseminate information about the NEC was something that civil society groups had been encouraging for some time.

“We are very surprised that for this national elections the NEC has put so much effort into using new technology [to inform] people,” Savang said. “We hope 2018 will be a model for other elections.”