Cambodian people from all walks of life started voting on Sunday morning in the commune councils election in 2007.

Altogether 7,799,371 registered voters are expected to cast their ballots at 14,428 polling stations nationwide from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 1, according to a press release from the National Election Committee (NEC) of Cambodia.

After the polling stations declared open at 7 a.m., voters were allowed to enter the polling stations by group, according to the Polling and Counting Manual issued by the NEC.

Priority is given to monks, elderly, pregnant women, sick persons and disabled people who have someone to assist them, it said.

The polling station is not authorized to close before 3 p.m. if not all the voters, even only one, have not appeared to vote, it added.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen also went to vote at a polling station in the Teacher Training Center of Kandal Province in the early morning with his wife, Bun Rany.

Hun Sen made no comments after voting.

According to official statistics, 102,266 candidates from 12 political parties are competing for 11,353 seats in 1,621 communes nationwide, during Cambodia's second ever commune councils election.

Source: Xinhua