Why don't foreigners count the ballots?

Sunday is the election, the 4th since the UNTAC peacekeeping forces repatriated Cambodians from Thailand and monitored the first election in 1993.Tthe person installed by the Vietnamese in 1979 after they expelled the Khmer Rouge from (parts of) Cambodia is still in power, and this is after four elections. A few weeks ago, a journalist Khem Sambo who worked for the opposition's newspaper was mysteriously killed (along with his 21 year old son).

A Cambodian I know here asked me "why don't foreigners count the ballots?" He says people are afraid to speak out about the current situation and the only option he sees is foreign monitoring. I am looking into being a monitor, and will let you know what happens.

A few details about the election (from UNDP):
Total number of voters: 8.1 million (53% female)
Total number of polling stations: 15, 254
Total number of international observers - 256 so far (US Embassy - 95, EU - 80...)
Total number of national observers: 15,642 (In 2007 there were 19,121)
Official results announcement: Aug 13 - Sept 7

Please pay close attention to this election, and hope that my Cambodian friend will no longer feel he "was born at the wrong time."