Fact-check: Selangor voter numbers did not spike by 750k

A viral message has claimed that the number of voters in Selangor had increased by 756,456 since the Parliamentary elections last November.

Based on the numbers provided in the viral message, that would represent a 28 percent increase.

According to the viral message, there were 2,745,905 registered voters eligible to vote during the November 2022 elections.

For the Aug 12 state elections, the viral message claims that there were 3,502,361 registered voters.

This viral message was shared by @rzmnrm on Twitter.

“Clearly, there is an attempt by political parties to move voters to Selangor,” wrote @rzmnrm.

Earlier this morning, electoral reforms pressure group Tindak Malaysia responded to @rzmnrm’s tweet.

Tindak Malaysia said that the numbers cited in the viral message were all wrong.

“The net is 69,209 voters. Not 750,000 voters (as claimed in the viral message).

“Out of 56 state constituencies, two depopulated since GE15 - Bukit Gasing and Kampung Tunku.

“There were small electoral growths in rural areas and big growths in Hulu Langat areas, Kinrara, northern Damansara, Shah Alam, and Dengkil,” said Tindak Malaysia.

Tindak Malaysia included a link to its Github page, which compared voter numbers for the two elections.

Independent checks by Malaysiakini showed that there were 3,677,848 registered voters during the November 2022 parliamentary elections.

This grew to 3,747,057 - a 1.88 percent growth.

At 1.88 percent growth, Selangor’s voter population growth is just slightly higher than average (1.2 percent) for all six states that had elections on Aug 12.

Twitter user @rzmnrm has deleted the tweet following Tindak Malaysia’s explanation.

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Malaysiakini is part of the Malaysian fact-checking alliance JomCheck.

Through JomCheck, Malaysians can submit requests to fact-check a claim by sending a WhatsApp message to the tipline at 017-477 6659 (WhatsApp text only, no calls), or via this link. - Mkini