NEC examines ballots
The National Election Committee, acting on orders from the Constitutional Council, yesterday examined ballots and original documents taken from 13 polling stations in a Kratie province commune, but the opposition and observers quickly questioned the process’s validity due to apparent irregularities. Despite the fact that “Safety Package A” – which contains original ballots and counting sheets from polling stations – was to remain sealed to prevent tampering, the Cambodia National Rescue Party and the Cambodian Center for Human Rights both said that several packages were either unsealed or inadequately sealed, an observation that the NEC did not contest. The opposition also maintained that, while the result of the recount of the enclosed ballots from Kratie’s Svay Chrah commune was no different from the one previously released by the NEC for either of the two main parties, there was a discrepancy in the number of invalidated ballots. Though the parties and the NEC did not reach a consensus on what that discrepancy means – that decision will be left to the Constitutional Council – both parties, along with Funcinpec and the NEC, signed a document agreeing that irregularities had taken place. …
