TI Cambodia ready for first-ever scientific data collection on local elections
Cambodia News
Phnom Penh (31 may 2017): Transparency International Cambodia on Wednesday is ready to send it’s nearly 2.000 independent observers nationwide for the country’s local elections scheduled on Sunday 4 June to report if the is any irregularity during the voting day.
Speaking in a press conference, TI Executive Director Preap Kol, said the first-ever Sample Based Observation (SBO) for commune/sangkat elections in Cambodia is aiming to monitor if there are transparency, integrity, and reliability during the election day.
He said SOB is a very technical data collection with small margin of error despite in both rural and urban areas.
410 offices with 2 observers each nationwide are set up for the whole day of the voting day and all data information will be sent to the Phnom Penh-based office in 2 hours after the voting. The data center with some 80 workers will get the scientific data from the field observers.
Tens of thousands of observers from 12 political parties and Civil Society organizations are expected to monitor the elections of 1,646 communes/sangkat in 25 provinces and cities.
“More than 60.000 observers are monitoring the elections by using traditional means as usual but what TI will do is the newest science that many countries around the world are using…, and in ASEAN countries, there are Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Philippines also using,” Preap Kol said.
The communes/sangkat authorities are the power at grassroots and the election is the test to find out grassroots supporters for the national elections in July 2018.
“On Sunday 4 June, we are monitoring from 6am until the polling stations are closed in the afternoon if there is any fraud, cheating and buying votes because such act is part of political corruption,” Preap Kol said.
