The National Election Committee (NEC) began distributing invitations to the more than nine million people on the 2021 official voter list on September 20. From October 20, they will have one month to make sure their details are correct so they can participate in next year’s national election.

NEC chairman Prach Chan said in a meeting with stakeholders on September 20 that in order to facilitate the most efficient update of the list, NEC has extracted data from the 2021 list and included it in the invitations to check.

He added that the purpose of distributing the invitations was make sure that those who had updated their Khmer ID cards since then would have the opportunity to update their details.

He said people who were on the official list in 2021 and who used a Cambodian identity card to register to vote should verify that their names and data are correct. If ID details have been recorded incorrectly, they may request a correction.

“The NEC – through the capital-provincial election secretariats – will cooperate with local authorities at all levels, especially commune authorities and village chiefs, to distribute these invitations to voters directly. The invitations will be distributed by October 19,” he said.

NEC general-secretary Tep Nytha said that on the first day of distribution, the NEC had received reports from the capital and 23 provinces – except Kratie. Almost all communes had begun to deliver the invitations, although some rain affected communes were not.

“The invitations are being rolled out gradually, commune by commune,” he said.

According to Nytha, the process will take one month. If the invitations do not reach them, they will be able to obtain them at the administrative office of their local commune.

Say Chhum, vice-president of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), issued a September 19 letter to the heads of the party’s capital-province working groups, reminding them to make sure that all members and supporters have valid identity cards. If they have been lost or expired, he urged the working groups to assist supporters in obtaining new ID cards.

He added that if a supporter’s card was not received by the registration period, it would be necessary to facilitate the issuance of identification documents to help them register to vote.

“Those who have not yet registered to vote, just reached the age of 18 and those who have moved to a new residence should register to vote in the commune where they are living as soon as possible,” he said.

According to the NEC schedule, registration, verification and validation of the official voter list will run from October 20 to February 21 next year.