Voter irregularities still in electoral roll ahead of GE13, Bersih says

Bersih steering community member Maria Chin Abdullah (left) and Klang MP Charles Santiago (right) at the news conference. – Picture by Saw Siow FengKUALA LUMPUR, March 14 – Irregularities continue to dog the gazetted electoral roll weeks before national polls are due with several people alleging they were registered as voters without their knowledge and others finding their voter details changed without consent, electoral reform lobbyist Bersih said today.

Bersih said eight people have stepped forward complaining of irregularities since launching a public complaints channel two months ago, adding it had forwarded them to the Election Commission (EC) earlier this week for action.

But the polls regulator had yet to respond, said Bersih steering committee member, Maria Chin Abdullah.

“Eight cases over two months is not an exceedingly small number and may represent only the tip of the iceberg, when seen in the context of earlier concerns over the integrity of the electoral roll,” she told a news conference at the KL-Selangor Chinese Assemby Hall.

Chin Abdullah said five people who claimed they had yet to register as voters complained their names were already been included in the latest gazetted electoral roll when they recently logged in to the EC’s voter registration website.

Of the five complainants, three claimed they were registered as voters in the wrong constituencies, Chin Abdullah said.

The EC has however, made it clear that they can only register voters according to the address listed in their identity cards, which may be different from the actual current residence of the voter.

Two complainants were unable to find their voter registration details on the EC’s website, and expressed concern they may not be allowed to vote in the coming 13th general elections (GE13) despite having registered, the activist said.

The last complaint was a homeowner who had discovered a letter purportedly bearing the name of a voter who shared the same address but who was unknown to the house owner living there, Chin Abdullah said.

She also said Bersih has been receiving an average of three to five complaints a week from the public, but added that not all were willing to step forward to record their complaints.

With the elections just weeks away from being called, Bersih is pressuring the EC to clean the roll of dubious entries.

Klang MP Charles Santiago who had earlier today lost his court bid to review the gazetted electoral roll, was also present at the news conference; and backed the watchdog’s push for the register to be cleaned of its dubious entries.

The High Court in Shah Alam had dismissed the federal lawmaker’s challenge, ruling it had no power to order a review as the law did not provide for it.

Speculation has been rife that Parliament will be dissolved by March 25, paving the way for polls to be called as early as next month.

The Barisan Nasional government’s mandate to govern will expire at end April.