Signing up: Poll monitors try out digital registration

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Pech Sotheary

A coalition of election watchdogs and rights groups known as the Electoral Reform Alliance (ERA) have tested a new “modernised voter registration” system that they hope the soon-to-be overhauled National Election Committee will use during forthcoming elections.

The group tested the program in Ratanakkiri, Kampong Chhnang and Phnom Penh with 652 people, and said yesterday at a press conference that 99 per cent of applicants had been registered correctly and were foiled when trying to register multiple times.

The voter list at the 2013 national election was criticised by the ERA for being rife with irregularities.

“The new system can clean up [duplicate names] . . . the current list has too many duplicate names,” said Thun Saray, president of rights group Adhoc.

The new method would require a laptop, fingerprint scanner, camera, printer and generator to be purchased by the NEC for every commune in the Kingdom, costing $1,200 per set if taxes aren’t applied.

Voter registration at the local level is currently conducted by hand.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/signing-poll-monitors-try-out-digital-registration