Political Paradigm of Pragmatism from the Khmer Youth part 85
This part (85), Mr. Sophan articulated on the hot debate of electoral college system of the US by exposing some pros and cons and making a comparison with Cambodia election system.
Courtesy: news.yahoo.com
While the Presidential election is nationwide conducting in the United States, the Electoral College system is not different from party-list or proportional system of Cambodia. As Americans don’t vote for president candidate directly, Cambodians voters don’t vote for Prime Minister directly as well. Hence, each state has their own unique election system but the local representatives are having small riding base/place sizing to that of commune or ward level, not a large provincial level like in Cambodia.
Among those distinctions, the finance laws on political party especially campaigning funds for each presidential candidate has been well coped by the state. This is different from Cambodia that we are not having such mechanism in each election. And the level playing field is not existing in Cambodia.
According to national archive of the United States, Electoral College system enabling solidarity of this vast country and their Founding Father had established it within Constitution several hundreds years ago. Its aim is to ensure a-not-dividable federal United States of America.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES NEWSImage captionProposed legislation would extend voting rights to more than a million Canadians abroad.
Canada plans to restore voting rights to some 1.4 million expatriates.
Ottawa is introducing legislation to allow expats who have been living outside Canada for more than five years to vote in federal elections,
Two Canadians living in the US have been fighting for the right to vote after learning they were ineligible to cast ballots in the 2011 general election.
Canada’s Supreme Court is planning to hear their case next spring.
The new policy is part of a package of electoral reforms announced on Thursday by federal Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef.
Ms Monsef called the five-year limit “arbitrary”.
“People have a very strong connection to this country and to their identity as Canadians. Just because they’re living abroad doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten about this place,” she said.
The law has been in place since 1993.
Gillian Frank, currently living in Princeton, New Jersey and Jamie Duong, who resides in Fairfax, Virginia, went to court to fight against the voting rights limits after trying to register online to vote in the 2011 Canadian federal election.
Image copyrightASSOCIATED PRESSImage captionActor Donald Sutherland was among the critics of the voting limits
It became a hot-button issue during the 2015 federal election when an Ontario appellate court overturned an earlier win for the two expats.
Canadian actor Donald Sutherland, the father of Kiefer Sutherland, even weighed in, criticising the policy that stopped him and his wife from casting a ballot.
The lawyer for Mr Frank and Mr Duong, Shaun O’Brien, said they were heartened by the government announcement and called it “an enormous victory”.
But Ms O’Brien said they were still concerned that the appellate court ruling stated that it was constitutional to set an “expiration date” on voters abroad.
She said that meant legislation, if passed, was still “vulnerable” to being changed by a future government.
For the moment, the two are not withdrawing their challenge to the voting limits at the Supreme Court.
In 2009, there were an estimated 2.8 million Canadians living abroad.
About 11,000 Canadians living overseas, excluding armed forces members, voted in the last federal election.
Return of vouching
Canada is not the only country that places limits on the voting rights of long-term expatriates.
Australia and New Zealand also have varying voting limits for citizens who have lived abroad for extended periods.
On Thursday, the federal Liberals also proposed making it easier for people to vote within Canada by reintroducing vouching that allows one person to corroborate someone else’s identity at the polls and allowing people to use their voter information card as ID. Those provisions were controversially removed by the previous government.
Canada’s elections commission will also be allowed to pre-register Canadians between 14 and 17 years of age to vote.
Political Paradigm of Pragmatism from the Khmer Youth part 84
This part (84), Mr. Sophan is appealing of eligible Cambodian voters to register to vote collectively in order to push for a positive change of the country. Since the election in 1993 organized by the United Nations, election was inclusive and nondiscriminatory by allowing all Cambodian voters to vote regardless of where they are residing. Many Cambodians overseas were able to join the election through different poling stations that UNs arranged in key cities such as New York, Paris, and Canberra etc.
During this period of voters registration, our current NEC has failed itself by not making any significant decision-making to allowing or facilitating for Cambodians overseas to register to vote at all.
This inability is a failure to respect the will of the people from all walks of life. Hence, the worse intention of any body or party who has worked hard to manipulate the result of election, that doesn’t reflect the will of the voters, should not be vital to the dignity and survival of that person or part at all.
25 years has been passed that Cambodians overseas have been deprived full rights to vote in Cambodia elections. UNTAC allowed Cambodians overseas to vote, but after 1998, the new established NEC who were full of incompetency and bias didn’t allow Cambodians overseas to vote. During this season of voters registration, NEC has not facilitated for accessibility of Cambodians overseas to register vote-name.
Is this a grave violation over rights of Cambodians overseas? And Cambodians overseas who are the owner of this right should do what next?
Political Paradigm of Pragmatism from the Khmer Youth part 79
This part (79), Mr. Sophan commented on tricks in details that are possible to happen during this voters registration that means too much for the controlling party.
First, the notice of computer system has been fabricated as many expertise have asked the same questions on why voters must be regulated to register in place where they vote? What astonishing is the regulation that people can register whatever place they want but they must vote in that place. Prime Minister Hun Sen did appeal people to register their names at place they like or they can easily access to.
Secondly, voters registration in each commune or sangkat could be easily pre-counted by such easy hashtag code solely owned by the president of NEC. Feasible pre-screening of voter lists leaking to third party shall enable such party to predict the result of this commune or sangkat election, and such powerful party can play around with the number. So, it might be common to see a trucking policemen or military to dispatching to different communes or sangkat to register for voting during this 3 months voters registration.
Thirdly, Tep Nitha has got great privilege to oversea the security unit of the NEC. Cambodian voters were historically frightened by the presence of arm-forces especially the pineapple eyes of village chiefs and their subordinates during ballot casting.
In inclusion, above preliminary finding shall shed some light on how the controlling party can freely trick around with the election procedures and distract them to their benefit. Millions of overseas Cambodians have already been marginalized from this unequal level playing field of election procedures, and the CEROC is very appreciate to all Cambodians overseas who have made great volunteering to fly to Cambodia to register to vote and to vote for a positive change of Cambodia.
