PKR alarmed over surge in Perak postal voters

The marked increase in postal voters in certain Perak polling districts has caused PKR to question their authenticity and whether it is a ploy to strengthen Barisan Nasional’s (BN) position in marginal seats.

PKR Perak state assemblyman, Chan Ming Kai, said today that in the last 12 months alone, the number of postal voters rose by 5,669 and 1,102 in the state constituencies of Pangkor and Kamunting respectively, and urged the Election Commission (EC) to verify that the number of soldiers stationed in the area matches the jump in postal voter registrations.

While Pangkor was won by Perak Mentri Besar, Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir, by over 5,000 votes, the Lumut parliamentary constituency, in which it sits, was won by MCA’s Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha by a margin of only 298 votes out of the 55,930 votes cast.

Kamunting, meanwhile, was won by Umno’s Mohamad Zahir Abdul Khalid with a 555 vote margin over his PAS opponent.

Chan acknowledged the presence of a large naval base in the Lumut constituency but claimed that the rise in the number of postal voters within 12 months appeared to be too much of a coincidence.

He added that the majority of the over 5,000 new postal voters were newly registered voters and not transfers from other districts.

“The Defense Ministry has to explain where these soldiers are coming from,” he said. “The Election Commission should check whether the soldiers are really there.”

The postal voting system, which is utilised by the military and the police, has often been criticised by the opposition as being open to abuse and fraud as they are not allowed into the army camps to monitor the voting process.

Some have called for the system to be reformed so that only police and military personnel who are on active duty cast their ballots via post.

The Election Commission announced last month, however, that it wants to improve transparency at postal voting centres in military camps by stationing EC officers at the centres.

EC deputy chief Datuk Wira Wan Ahmad Wan Omar was reported to have said that the commission will meet with the Defence Ministry to discuss the proposal. - Malaysian Insider