Sarawak Election: Man born in 1880 still on electoral roll

(The Star) – SIBU: A local non-governmental organisation Sibu Election Watchers (SEW) has claimed that the latest electoral roll is still not up to date.

Its spokesman Wong Meng Chuo said the oldest person on the roll was born in 1880, Mohamad Mahli Sulong.

“We found out that Mahli is an eligible voter in N49 Nangka and his voting station is SK Perbandaran Sibu No. 3 at Jalan Bandong,” Wong said.

During the Sibu by-election last year, SEW also found 208 names in the Sibu parliamentary constituency who were born over a century ago.

Wong said it was rather unfortunate that despite assurance from the Election Commission (EC) deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar who said on March 30 that the electoral roll was clean, SEW still found in it the names of dead people.

“We regret that the EC has not done its job well. We strongly believe a clean electoral roll is important for a free and fair election,” Wong said.

He recalled that it was Malaysians For Free and Fair Election (Mafrel) which found in the 2006 state election the name of one Sadiah Taha who had been dead for 31 years.

Wong said 30 election observers recruited by SEW would be undergoing their first training Sunday.

He said these observers were all volunteers who were willing to sacrifice their time and money to ensure a freer and fairer election.