A study done by the Malaysian Electoral Roll Analysis Project (Merap) found close to 12 percent of voters in Sabah with "irregular" ethnicity (bangsa) recorded in their identity cards.
Not only that, the identity cards possessed by a quarter of these voters have been disputed in the infamous court hearing on the 1999 Likas election petition in Sabah more than a decade ago.
Despite the court ruling that these could be ‘phantom voters' planted in the constituency, they remain in the electoral roll.
In a series of reports published on its blog, Merap points out that based on the electoral roll updated till the first quarter of 2012, a total of 108,970, or 11.7 percent, out of 920,160 voters in Sabah have "irregular" ethnicity, such as ‘Bugis', ‘Brunei', ‘Jawa' and ‘Filipino'.
Seeking to complement the disclosures in the ongoing probe by the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Immigrants in Sabah with facts and figures, Merap conducted an analysis on this particular group of voters.
These voters were mainly found in the parliamentary constituencies of Silam, Kimanis, Kalabakan, Libaran, Papar, Tawau, Sipitang, Beaufort and Putatan in the electoral roll for the first quarter of 2012 and they made up more than 15 percent of the total registered voters.
Born in Sabah
Despite their "irregular" ethnicity, the vast majority of these voters carried identity cards stating that they were born in Malaysia, Merap said.
A further cross-check with the state code in their identity card numbers revealed that more than 7,000 Filipinos, 5,000 Indonesians and 2,000 Pakistanis in the list were recorded as born in Sabah.
"There are even five Bangladeshis and one Burundian who were born in Sabah."
Merap also cross-checked the list with the identity cards - a key evidence in the Likas election petition - with serial numbers ranging from H0288001 to H0384000 and H0480001 to H0576000 and found 28,332, or 26.2 percent, of the 108,333 voters to be within the range.
Not only that, the identity cards possessed by a quarter of these voters have been disputed in the infamous court hearing on the 1999 Likas election petition in Sabah more than a decade ago.
Despite the court ruling that these could be ‘phantom voters' planted in the constituency, they remain in the electoral roll.In a series of reports published on its blog, Merap points out that based on the electoral roll updated till the first quarter of 2012, a total of 108,970, or 11.7 percent, out of 920,160 voters in Sabah have "irregular" ethnicity, such as ‘Bugis', ‘Brunei', ‘Jawa' and ‘Filipino'.
Seeking to complement the disclosures in the ongoing probe by the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Immigrants in Sabah with facts and figures, Merap conducted an analysis on this particular group of voters.
These voters were mainly found in the parliamentary constituencies of Silam, Kimanis, Kalabakan, Libaran, Papar, Tawau, Sipitang, Beaufort and Putatan in the electoral roll for the first quarter of 2012 and they made up more than 15 percent of the total registered voters.
Born in Sabah
Despite their "irregular" ethnicity, the vast majority of these voters carried identity cards stating that they were born in Malaysia, Merap said.
A further cross-check with the state code in their identity card numbers revealed that more than 7,000 Filipinos, 5,000 Indonesians and 2,000 Pakistanis in the list were recorded as born in Sabah.
"There are even five Bangladeshis and one Burundian who were born in Sabah."
Merap also cross-checked the list with the identity cards - a key evidence in the Likas election petition - with serial numbers ranging from H0288001 to H0384000 and H0480001 to H0576000 and found 28,332, or 26.2 percent, of the 108,333 voters to be within the range.
Judge Muhammad Kamil Awang, who heard the election petition filed by Dr Chong Eng Leong of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) in 2001,ordered Yong Teck Lee of the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) to vacate the Likas state assembly seat.
Justice Muhammad in his decision ruled that Yong won the seat in the 1999 Sabah election with the help of 'phantom voters' who had obtained their identity cards illegally.
Justice Muhammad in his decision ruled that Yong won the seat in the 1999 Sabah election with the help of 'phantom voters' who had obtained their identity cards illegally.
Merap is headed by Ong Kian Ming, a lecturer and political analyst at UCSI University who joined DAP last year. The project seeks to identify problems in the electoral roll and to find ways to correct these problems.
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