Cambodia opposition leader Sam Rainsy shows his ink-stained finger after casting his ballot at polling station during the general election at Chan Moly pagoda in Bateay district, Kampong Cham province, about 50km from Phnom Penh July 27, 2008.
REUTERS/Nicolas Axelrod (CAMBODIA)PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Polls closed in Cambodia on Sunday after general elections widely expected to extend Prime Minister Hun Sen's 23-year grip on power.
"As scheduled, we closed the polling stations at 3:00 pm (0800 GMT)," Tep Nytha, secretary general of the National Election Committee, told AFP.
The 15,000 polling stations opened for eight hours of balloting, conducted under the eyes of 13,000 domestic and international observers.
Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) says it wants to expand its majority in the 123-seat parliament so that it can form a single-party government.
The CPP currently has 73 seats, and party officials say they expect to clinch at least eight more.
More than eight million people are registered to vote in Cambodia. Official results could take days to be announced, but the parties were expected to release their own tallies later Sunday.
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