Mafrel warns high possibility of phantom voters in Batang Ai

(Suara keADILan) – Non-governmental organisation Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections (Mafrel) has warned of the possibility of high existence of phantom voters in Batang Ai, Sarawak, the site of a by-election due to be polled on Apr 7.

The Election Commission has however denied Mafrel’s claim that 96 percent of the 8,006 voters in Batang Ai do not have permanent addresses and could not be located.

This would make it easy for manipulation by the ruling Umno-Barisan Nasional coalition, which is contesting the state seat, as it has at its command the federal apparatus to help it.

But according to EC deputy chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar: “The Commission does not have the right to change the addresses of registered voters and to remove the names of deceased voters until it receives their death certificates from the National Registration Department.”

He also said only the voters themselves or the family members of deceased voters could make changes to the EC’s electoral roll after providing certified documents from the National Registration Department or the police as proof.

“It’s not easy to use the names of deceased voters as thought, because we have to check the identity cards and other official documents before allowing voters to cast their votes,” Wan Ahmad told reporters.

He said the Commission would reject the names of voters if there was suspicion over their status or if they did not have the necessary documents to prove their identity.

In the contest, former Lubok Antu MP Jawah Gerang will be representing Pakatan Rakyat and Malcolm Mussen from Parti Rakyat Sarawak the Barisan Nasional.

Nominations will take place on Mar 29 and polling on Apr 7. There will be 26 polling stations and the results are expected to be announced around 9pm.