Philippine E-Journals

Decreasing Voter Turnout and Increasing Youth Population in Cambodia

Kotaro Minamikawa

 

Abstract:

Since the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement, there had been five national elections in Cambodia. Each of them marked high voters’ turnouts which suggested that the people had a strong interest in election and politics. The voters’ turnout reached its peak in the 1998 election with 93% of the people participating in the elections. However, after 1998, the turnout of voters had been decreasing. In the 2013 election, the turnout was merely less than 70% (68%). Asia Foundation in 2014 pointed out the low interest of the younger generation in voting, although there were also other reports which mentioned about the active participation of young Cambodians before and after the 2013 elections. Some factors which caused a decline in the turnout of votes included irregularities during polling and counting, lack of information for voters on how to register and where to vote, and voting stations were far from residences for voters who migrated from their hometown.