Have Sarawakians become 'victims of phantom voters'?

Have Sarawakians been made victims of ‘phantom voters’ and postal voters in peninsula Malaysia following the discovery of a case this week?

The question was posed by state DAP secretary Alan Ling Sie Kong after Andrew Laja, 54, of Rumah Jemat, Sungai Sebatu, Ulu Tinjar, Baram found that he had been registered as a voter in Perak.

Registering himself as a voter in 1996, Andrew had missed three parliamentary elections and four state elections as his name did not appear in the electoral rolls in Baram.

He only discovered last Tuesday that he had been registered as a voter for the Behrang state seat and Tanjung Malim parliamentary seat in Perak. His name is listed among the police voters.

Highlighting Andrew’s dilemma to Malaysiakini, Ling (right) expressed concern that Andrew had become a ‘victim of phantom voter’ and there could be more Sarawakians registered as voters in the peninsula without them knowing it.

“We want to know the number of Sarawakians who have become victims of phantom voters following a complaint from Andrew.

“Could what happened to Andrew, who has been registered as a voter in the state seat of Behrang, which is under the parliamentary of Tanjung Malim, Perak, be the tip of the iceberg?” asked Ling, who is also Piasau assemblyperson.

“The Election Commission (EC) must explain why this happened. Andrew was not only depriving to exercise his constitutional rights but had been made victim of phantom voter.

“His case proves the claim of phantom voting during election which has been rampant but the EC chose to brush it away,” he said, citing Andrew’s case as a slap in their face.

“If the commission fails to explain, it is perceived as culprit to BN's dirty trick to win election - winning without honour and dignity,” said Ling.

“The EC’s record online shows that the location is the police compound.

“This creates doubts and we highly suspect he may be registered as ‘pos undi’ (postal voter) in favour of the BN candidates for the parliament seat of Tanjung Malim and the state seat of Behrang,” he added. 

DAP member shocked to find name in Perak

Ling said that the commission must come clean on this, as it is ridiculous for someone like Andrew who has never changed his address and has never even stepped foot into the peninsula to be a voter in Perak. 

Andrew’s case came to light when a DAP member checked his name through a smartphone last Tuesday and was surprised to find out that his name appeared in Perak.

“After being informed, I immediately faxed a letter to the Sarawak EC director seeking an explanation and asking him if there are many more natives from Sarawak who had been made phantom voters.

“This is why Bersih and Pakatan are demanding that the EC clean up its electoral roll all this while,” he added.