Dissenting voters have one choice: ‘None of the above’

One Cambodian voter defaced his or her ballot. Others ticked every single box, or crossed out the entire ballot. Still others drew pictures of the sun, the symbol of the outlawed main opposition party.

After Sunday’s general election, which was roundly condemned as a sham by Western governments and human rights groups, Cambodia is all but officially a one-party state. The Cambodian People’s Party of Hun Sen, the longtime prime minister, claims it captured every one of the 125 seats in Parliament.

But the second-largest number of votes went to a surprising beneficiary: no one. Around 600,000 Cambodian voters, or 8.6 percent of the electorate, cast inadmissible ballots, according to the National Election Committee.

During the last general election in 2013, which the opposition nearly won, only 108,085 invalid ballots were recorded.

The surprisingly high number of invalid ballots hinted at quiet defiance from an electorate cowed into voting, but distressed by the kneecapping of democracy.

Exiled leaders of the opposition had called for a boycott of the poll. But the authorities spread the word, in villages and urban areas alike, that the state would be watching to see whether voters had fulfilled their duty. On the eve of the election, Hun Sen warned that those who dared to skip the voting were “traitors.”

At some garment factories in Phnom Penh, the capital, workers — who had flocked to the opposition in 2013 — were warned not to return to the factory line unless their fingers were inked to prove they had voted. The National Election Committee, which is not an independent entity, reported that 82.89 percent of registered voters had shown up at polling stations.

A 40-year-old grocer named Pheap, from Sarikakeo commune in Kandal province, said he had spoiled his ballot by blacking out the name of the governing party. He said the election was not fair because of the absence of the main opposition party. Like other voters interviewed, he gave only his first name.

On Tuesday morning, Hun Sen — who has maintained his grip on power for 33 years with a potent mix of military backing, political guile and old-school thuggery — took to Facebook to deem the polls free and fair. The prime minister said there had been no pressure on voters to choose the Cambodian People’s Party.

“The absolute majority of people support democratic, liberal and multiparty elections, which is the biggest wish of the Cambodian people,” Hun Sen wrote on his Facebook page.