PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Cambodia’s election commission said on Tuesday that nearly half a million ballots were spoiled in the national election last month, which critics have called a sham as all opposition parties were barred from contesting.
Having ruled for nearly 40 years, Prime Minister Hun Sen will hand over power to his son later this month after the ruling Cambodian People Party (CPP) scored an easy victory in the July 23 election.
The CPP won 80% of a total of 8.2 million votes cast, the National Election Committee (NEC) said on Tuesday, the first official announcement of the results.
About 440,000 ballots — or every one in 18 — were invalidated, the NEC said, adding the election had seen a high turnout of 85%.
According to NEC official Dim Sovannarom, the number of spoiled ballots was less than in the 2018 election, when state institutions had also disbanded an earlier incarnation of the pro-democracy opposition Candlelight party.
Authorities had threatened voters with heavy penalties if they spoiled ballots or boycotted the election or urged others to do so.
Opposition figures and rights groups say Hun Sen has for years suppressed democratic institutions while cracking down on opponents and critics. The government has rejected such accusations.
(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
