'EC failed to check on double voting in Setiawangsa'

PKR candidate for Setiawangsa Ibrahim Yaacob has claimed in an election petition that the Election Commission (EC) had failed to check on the existence of double voting in the parliamentary constituency.

Setiawangsa is a parliamentary seat where the Defence Ministry and several army camps are located.

Ibrahim, who lost by 1,390 votes in the May 5 general election, also claimed in his election petition filed yesterday that there is duplication in that eight people having the same names were found in the postal voters list, and he went on further to list them.

In addition to this, Stream 4 in the early voting for army personnel showed that 650 people had cast their votes against 690 ballot papers which had been issued, and this raises questions about the remaining 40 ballot papers as stated in Form 14.

Similarly in Stream 8, there is a discrepancy as there is an excess of 41 ballot papers cast, whereas it is stated in the form that 650 people had cast their votes. He went on to list similar grouses in other streams.

Ibrahim further claimed that together with doubts over the performance of the indelible ink which can be washed off easily, this had resulted in the threat of double voting to be real. 

He stated that a party supporter had written a complaint to the EC on April 29 over this - of which the EC confirmed receiving - but till today, there has been no response or denial over the matter.

All this constitute violations under Section 4(g) of the Election Offences Act 1954 and Regulation 19 of the Election (Postal Voting) Regulations.

Ibrahim - who named BN candidate Ahmad Fauzi Zahari (left), the Setiawangsa parliamentary seat returning officer, and the EC as respondents - also cited two names which appeared in both the postal voters and early voters lists, claiming that both of them had been allowed to vote twice.

The PKR candidate, who is also Anwar Ibrahim's chief of staff in his petition, states that 150 early voting ballot papers seemed to have been marked by the same person as it shared similar characteristics of it being marked from one end of the box to the other.

Huge discrepancy of postal votes

Ibrahim further contended in normal votes that he had garnered 56.8 percent of the votes, or 23,440 votes - resulting in 5,573 more votes from Ahmad Fauzi - while there is a huge discrepancy for postal votes and early votes where he had only obtained 163 and 1,816 votes respectively.

This is in comparison with Ahmad Fauzi obtaining 1,407 postal votes and 9,514 early votes.

Due to the huge discrepancy in the postal and early voters, Ibrahim said he had raised a prima facie case over the two voting modes and that he raises suspicions about the ballot boxes or the Borang 14 which may have been manipulated, resulting in Ahmad Fauzi's win.

In 2008, Ibrahim (right) also contested in Setiawangsa, but lost by 8,134 votes against then Federal Territories Minister Zulhasnan Rafique.

Under the Election Offences Act, an election petition can be filed on specific grounds, such as bribery being involved, threats and procedural irregularities.

Ibrahim further claimed that it is incumbent on the returning officer and the EC to prevent elements of fraud. He blamed the failure of the indelible ink's proper implementation and the mass police reports against its effectiveness to doubt the results of the election.

He is seeking for the 13th general election results for Setiawangsa be declared null and void, and that Ahmad Fauzi should not be declared the winner. Ibrahim is also seeking other relief, as deemed necessary by the court.