According to the National Election Committee’s preliminary result, voter turnout was 85.74 percent, or 6.7 million of the 7.8 million Cambodians who had registered to vote, compared to about 65 percent in the 2012 local elections. While no violence was reported on Sunday, the opposition’s success means some are predicting greater intimidation in the lead-up to next year’s poll. Preliminary election results released by the NEC showed that it was a very tight race between Prime Minister Hun Sen's CPP and Kem Sokha's opposition CNRP, with the opposition leading in urban areas such as Phnom Penh and Siem Reap and the ruling party claiming victory in a number of rural areas. This practice, permitted by the NEC, reportedly allows the “ruling party to strategically register soldiers to sway the vote in contested communes.”

“Sunday’s local elections are critical for grassroots democracy and the vote is being seen by many as a kind of litmus test of the political environment ahead of national elections planned for 2018,” said the Malaysian MP Charles Santiago of Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights last week.
Voters cast ballots to select representatives for rural and urban Cambodian precincts from, nationwide, 94,595 candidates for 11,572 council seats. Voter turnout was 85.74 percent with few reports of irregularities. According to early results, the opposition makes significant gains against the ruling party of Prime Minister Hun Sen.