A National Election Committee (NEC) official expressed his pleasure that the election body was awarded an equal position with other electoral bodies at an international workshop held in Paris this week.

Addressing the media upon his May 31 return from the 10th meeting of the French Speaking Electoral Knowledge Network (RECEF), NEC Press and Quick Reaction Unit chief Dim Sovannarom said Cambodia had presented its ballot papers, as had other participants.

He exhibited a selection of materials from the 2018 elections to the meeting participants, including sample ballot papers and a photograph of an elephant delivering election materials to a remote Mondulkiri polling station.

“We were pleased to join the workshop bas equal partners with the other members, who came from places as diverse as France, Romania and several countries in Africa,” he added.

He said the workshop focused on several key points, including which electoral systems attract the highest number of voters, and ways to make elections more accessible to disabled persons, immigrants and ethnic minorities through auxiliary voting and mail ballots.

“During the discussions, I explained that under Cambodia’s electoral laws, those who are registered on the electoral list may cast their ballots by using their Cambodian national ID cards or election-related documents,” he continued.

“In short, the election committees of each country are not the same, but we held respectful discussions. All democratic countries have chosen the electoral system that best serves the electorate,” he said.

He added that representatives from 22 countries and partner institutions had supported the NEC’s bid to join the RECEF.

“We have good news – the RECEF is prepared to observe the upcoming July 23 parliamentary elections,” he said.

In December this year, the RECEF will offer workshops to women who can speak French. The training will focus on leadership in politics.

“The RECEF will invite one French-speaking woman from each of its election committee members,” he concluded.