More army voters in camps under construction, claims Bersih

Electoral reform coalition Bersih said today that it has discovered more new army voters are being transferred into two camps in Bera, Pahang, and Hutan Melintang, Perak, which are still under construction.

Bersih deputy chairperson Shahrul Aman Mohd Shaari said the discovery was made following a similar revelation by DAP Johor last week of army voters being transferred into the yet to be completed Segamat camp in Johor.

In reference to the 2017 third quarter Supplementary Electoral Roll (RDPT), Shahrul said 1,234 new army voters were found to be registered in the Bera parliamentary seat held by Rural and Regional Development Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, while another 1,411 new army voters registered in Hutan Melintang, a state seat under Bagan Datoh constituency held by Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

"Our analysis showed that these transfers happened in seats won (by BN) with a slim majority in the last 13th general election.

"In particular, the three seats are won by ministers," said Shahrul Aman during a press conference at Bersih's office in Petaling Jaya.

The Segamat seat is currently held by Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam who won it with a 1,217 majority against former health minister Chua Jui Meng from PKR.

Ismail won in Bera with a 2,143 votes majority against PKR's Zakaria Abdul Hamid while Zahid defended his Bagan Datoh seat for the fifth-term with a 2,108 majority against PKR's Madhi Hasan.

"This clearly shows that the transfers were politically motivated and intended to influence the outcome of the elections through early or postal votes," Shahrul claimed.

Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah, who was also present, said the Election Commission (EC) has also created new localities in the seats to facilitate the transfer of army voters into uncompleted camps.

"Why did this happen? So we (Bersih) feel that the EC is aware of these (questionable) transfers but they are not taking actions to strike out the names before the electoral roll is gazetted," she said.

Raising further questions over the legality of the transfers into uncompleted camps, Bersih outreach officer Chan Tsu Chong pointed out that Article 119 of the Federal Constitution clearly stated that a voter must be a resident at their registered address.- Mkini