Audit finds most untraceable voters in Pakatan areas

A voter audit by the Selangor government found that 28 percent or 134,675 voters newly-included into the Selangor electoral roll up to the fourth quarter of 2011 cannot be traced. 

And of this, most of them are in constituencies currently held by Pakatan Rakyat representatives.

This includes more than 8,000 voters in Subang Jaya (DAP’s Hannah Yeoh), more than 5,000 voters in Hulu Kelang (PAS’ Saari Sungib) and more than 4,000 voters in Bukit Lanjan (PKR’s Elizabeth Wong), Kinrara (DAP’s Teresa Kok), Kota Damansara (PSM’s Nasir Hashim), Sri Muda (PKR’s Shuhaimi Shafiei) and Taman Medan (PKR’s Haniza Talha) respectively. 

Interestingly, however, the constituency with the highest number of untraceable voters is Sri Serdang, held by opposition leader Satim Diman, with more than 9,000 voters in this category. 

In a press statement after tabling the report to the state assembly today, Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said the initiative commenced last June and took three months to complete.

‘Concerns justified’

He said it was undertaken because the government was doubtful of the credibility of the hike in voters in Selangor state and parliament electoral roll. 

“We will explain to the Election Commission (EC) why we say they are untraceable,” he said, adding that the government will write to the EC after the assembly sitting concludes next week. 

The study, coordinated by the Selangor Economic Planning Unit, also found that five constituencies did not have proper electoral maps. 

These are Sungai Panjang and Sri Serdang (voting districts not marked out in the map), Damansara Utama (electoral boundaries not corrected) and Sementa, Hulu Kelang and Selat Kelang (electoral boundaries unclear). 

He said that the results of the project, completed with the cooperation of village heads, local councillors, district office staff and local government, show that concern over a spike in the electoral roll is justified. 

“As such, we will take this to the EC for an explanation before taking further action to prepare for the next general election. 

“We are confident that the people are ready to make mature decisions during an election that is fair, professional, honest and responsible, in line with the democratic principles which we hold true,” he said.