Electoral Management Design Database

NEC, Law on the Organization and Functioning of the National Election Committee (LOFNEC) [in Combodian], accessed 17 February 2022

See also History of NEC, and current members (as of February 2022)

The Asian Network for Free Elections, 2018 Cambodia National Assembly Elections, Pre-Election Assessment Report, accessed 17 February 2022

“The National Election Committee (NEC) is the highest body for managing elections in Cambodia. The NEC is an organization whose jurisdiction is to organize, prepare, and manage elections for senators and members of the National Assembly as well as other elections as determined by law. Following its creation in 1998, the NEC was seen as owing an undue allegiance to the ruling party, the CPP, which has governed Cambodia since before the creation of the NEC. However, after election reform in 2015 in the form of the Law on the Organization and Functioning of the NEC (LOFNEC), the NEC appeared to become more neutral. This law was part of electoral reforms agreed by CPP and CNRP when they brokered a deal on July 22, 2014, ending the political crisis which occurred after the 2013 general elections.

At the core of the two-party agreement was a change in the composition of the NEC. According to LOFNEC, the NEC was to be composed of four (4) members representing the ruling party, four (4) members representing the leading opposition party in the National Assembly, and one (1) member chosen by consensus from all parties. The NEC was effectively balanced between the two parties with most of the seats in Parliament but not necessarily representative, as smaller parties were not represented. However, these changes meant that the NEC was no longer monopolized by one party.”