A 61-year-old had a rude shock this morning when she arrived at SMK Tanah Liat at 8.30am to cast her vote in the Permatang Pauh by-election.
"It was a shock to me. I never had such a problem before. The EC officer said they will investigate but they could not let me vote," she told The Malaysian Insider today.
Faridah said she would wait for her lawyer to assist her as she was adamant about voting in the by-election.
Tan Soo Eng, 70, had the same problem when she went to SJK (C) Jit Sin A and C. She was told that someone had voted using her name as well.
"I am so disappointed. I was looking to vote," she said.
Tan took her complaint to Pakatan Rakyat leaders stationed at a makeshift operation centre outside the school.
Kebun Bunga assemblyman Cheah Kah Peng, who was at the centre, said Tan was even told by an EC officer to dip her finger into the indelible ink.
"But one of our polling agents managed to stop her.
"This is another case of persons using fake MyKads to vote using the identities of others," he said.
Cheah said for the last 17 years, since the Reformasi movement began, there had been cases like these, and he had personally encountered such “fraud” several times.
"These cases show that there is a great flaw in our system," he said, adding that such cases must continue to be highlighted to warn the people.
He said the cases were documented with photos and videos and then uploaded onto the Internet.
"We do this because we want the people, namely voters here, to come out and vote.
"They must always vote early to prevent others from using their identities to vote on their behalf illegally."
Cheah said reports would also be made to the relevant authorities for record.
DAP Permatang Pauh by-election director Steven Sim said today's incidents were proof of phantom voters in the Permatang Pauh by-election.
He cited PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli who highlighted the issue yesterday after they visited house owners who were given voter slips of people they never knew existed but supposedly lived with them.
"We have also received numerous reports since this morning of names being removed from voters list, transferred to other polling stations or even to other constituencies although the person in question has voted in a particular centre before and has not changed his or her address."
Sim also cried foul over road resurfacing works carried out by the Public Works Department in Samagagah and Penanti.
The works caused congestion and discouraged some voters who are working today from going to vote during their lunch break.
"This is obviously a tactic to stop our voters from coming to vote. Why choose today to do road work, why choose lunch time and why choose roads leading to polling centres?
"It is clear that BN is desperate and is resorting to dirty tactics to deny Pakatan Rakyat's victory in Permatang Pauh.
"We hereby issue a stern warning to the EC to be professional and not take sides. We also urge the relevant authorities to take action on our reports lodged," the Bukit Mertajam MP said.
- TMI
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