PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Wearing an orange robe and speaking calmly into his smartphone, the Venerable Luon Sovath eased his way through the throngs of people gathered outside Polling Station 867 in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital.

He paused his monologue only to adjust his cellphone, talking for hours to his Facebook followers about what he saw and heard as Cambodians went to the polls Sunday in nationwide elections of local officials.

“In a democracy, the people own the country and have an obligation to come and vote,” he said during his Facebook Live broadcast. This obligation included participation by Buddhist monks like him. “Monks are also people,” he added.

Luon Sovath, 37, is the most prominent member of a group of monks who have become citizen journalists, monitoring political events and human rights conditions in Cambodia on social media. Their efforts are part of a growing campaign by Cambodians who are using the internet to get around the government’s stranglehold on mass media and civic life.