Penang PKR cry foul over suspicious transfer of voters

Penang PKR chairperson Mansor Othman has cried foul over the transfer of voters into four state constituencies that either his party or Umno had won with a thin majority.

"The number of voters transferred to the four constituencies, since the fourth quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2017 were Seberang Jaya (852), Sungai Bakap (1,819), Sungai Achech (654) and Batu Maung (1,908)," said Mansor.

During the 2013 elections, PKR won with a 2,459 vote majority Seberang Jaya, a 1,805 vote majority in Sungai Bakap and a 3,390 vote majority in Batu Maung. Umno won in Sungai Acheh with an 808 vote majority.

Mansor said that Sungai Bakap appears to be the main target for the culprits, as the number of voters transferred surpassed the majority won by PKR in 2013.

He said that the transfer of voters was detected through the quarterly voter registry supplied by the Election Commission.

Meanwhile, Penang PKR election coordinator Ong Eu Leong said the transfer of voters to these four constituencies began in late 2015.

He said that the party's research had shown that the transferring of voters were not done in stages, but in batches.

For example, of the 1,819 voters transferred to Sungai Bakap, 1,299 were transferred in the first quarter of 2017.

"In Seberang Perai (on the mainland), voters who were shifted clearly came from Telok Ayer Tawar, especially under the Bagan parliamentary seat held by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, Bagan Jermal, Bagan Dalam, Sungai Puyu and Jawi.

"For Batu Maung, many of the voters transferred were from nearby constituencies like Batu Uban and Pantai Jerejak, which are all held by PKR assemblypersons," he added.

Ong claimed that some voters were transferred to other constituencies without their knowledge, citing how he had came across one example of a voter who was transferred from Bagan to Teluk Ayer Tawar and finally to Sungai Bakap.

Ong and several Pakatan Harapan activists had discovered that many voters, particularly low-income ethnic Indians, were being targetted by syndicates who would change their MyKad addresses under the guise of government welfare workers.

Following this, 29 affected individuals lodged police reports.

Ong said that these schemes were rampant in Penang, but similar schemes has also been detected in Johor and Kelantan.- Mkini