EC officers in Ketereh opened ballot bags, says PKR

Election Commission (EC) officers are said to have opened up ballot bags stored in a municipal council office in Ketereh, Kelantan, on May 7 without an order from the High Court.

Ketereh PKR Youth chief Mohd Sukirman Mustafa toldMalaysiakini that some of his party members and members of the public lodged police reports on the matter on May 16.

The EC officers, according to Sukirman, had come with the presence of police and claimed to have obtained instructions from their superiors to do so, even though election regulations stipulate that ballot bags can only be opened with a High Court order.

However, the officers who cut the safety seals on the ballot bags, did not remove anything from the bags kept in a room in the Ketereh Municipal Council.

PKR has evidence in the form of pictures

"They merely opened the bags and ransacked them a little, though they did not take anything away from them," Sukirman said.

He said the PKR branch there was notified by a concerned citizen, who told them about the bags being opened by EC officers about 11am on May 7.

Sukirman said PKR members captured pictures of an EC officer opening the ballot bags and were now awaiting an explanation on the matter from the EC.

However, he added, the party would consider taking this matter to court to challenge the authority of EC officers to open sealed ballot bags.

Regulation 26 of the Election Regulations Act 1958 states that ballot bags can only have their safety seals opened on an order issued by the High Court.