PHNOM PENH: The National Election Committee (NEC) confirmed that citizens can mark various types of symbols on this year’s ballot to select their preferred political party. Voters can draw one of 12 symbols in the appropriate box, including a checkmark, the letters X, V, U, O, an inverted U, parentheses or a tilde (~). They also said that voters can use any other symbol that does not identify the voter. That said, the NEC encourages people to simply draw a checkmark on the ballot.

Marks that are considered invalid include written words, commentaries, fingerprints, stamps, stickers, and logos. Names, signatures, numbers or anything that can be used to identify the voter are forbidden.

Prime Minister Hun Sen issued an order to arrest criminals who disguise themselves as leaders of various political parties, especially the Cambodian People's Party, and misinform people on how to fill out a proper ballot.

He ordered the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications to investigate and arrest impostors immediately, saying that such dishonest people must not be tolerated.

"We have to catch those who pretend to be CPP supporters and teach people to mark ballots incorrectly," he said.

He asked each political party to guide the public on how to mark ballots correctly for a successful election on July 23.