EC’s instruction on vote tally form doesn’t comply with law, says PKR

 

PKR head of legal affairs for elections G Manivannan (right) says the guidelines given to election officers also don’t require validation of Borang 14 with a rubber stamp by the presiding officer.

AYER MOLEK: A PKR leader has expressed concern that the Election Commission’s (EC) instructions on the “vital” Borang 14 at voting centres fail to comply with the requirements set under the relevant law.

Borang 14 is a form that contains the tallied number of votes each candidate received.

At a press conference, PKR head of legal affairs for elections G Manivannan said the instructions did not state that the presiding officer’s signature was required on Borang 14 as stated under the Election Regulations 1981.

“Under the law, counting agents of each party are entitled to an official copy of Borang 14.

“The Borang 14 must be signed by the counting agent and the presiding officer but we found that the EC’s instructions for this state election are silent on the need for the presiding officer’s signature.

“The instructions even state that the presiding officer does not need to validate the form with a rubber stamp (chop),” he said.

Manivannan added that the presiding officer’s signature was vital should there be a dispute over the election results as the Borang 14 would be a key piece of evidence.

He then asked the EC to confirm that presiding officers would still be required to sign  Borang 14 and that an official copy would be provided to counting agents.

“In the past there were instances where the Borang 14 was not signed and that made it difficult when there was a dispute.” - FMT