Following a news report in Chinese-language daily Nanyang Siang Pau today on malaysiakini 's current poll questioning "Who can lead MCA best?", it would seem that the survey has been abused and manipulated by those who have a special interest in its outcome.

The number of voters jumped from 58,499 at midnight yesterday to 219,620 at noon today, an increase of 275 percent over the past 12 hours.

The [#1] poll[/#] , which kicked off on Monday afternoon, seeks the opinion of malaysiakini readers on who can best lead the Malaysian Chinese Association, a component party of ruling coalition Barisan Nasional.

MCA is currently embroiled in a tussle between two factions for control of the party, with president Dr Ling Liong Sik and his protg Ong Ka Ting pitting themselves against deputy leader Lim Ah Lek and his protg Chan Kong Choy.

According to Nanyang , as of midnight yesterday, the poll showed party chief Ling in the second last spot with 2,024 votes, ahead of vice-president Fong Chan Onn who garnered 742 votes.

The report said the poll's top choice was 'None of the above' (17,800), followed by deputy president Lim at second position (15,531) and senior vice-president Chua Jui Meng at third (12,680).

Ling's preferred successor, vice-president Ong, was fourth (6,186), while Lim's chosen one, Chan, another vice-president, was fifth (3,536).

However, at noon today, the poll recorded a dramatic jump to the top for Ong (101,925) [ photo ], a rise of 95,739 votes compared with 6,186 the day before, or a whopping increase of 1,547 percent in 12 hours.

Meanwhile, Ling also found sudden popularity, with votes favouring him rising to 25,160, an increase of 1,143 percent.

Other leaders in the poll also saw spectacular jumps in their scores: Chan (493 percent), Fong (236 percent), Lim (106 percent), and Chua (45 percent).

However, the 'None of the above' category saw a meagre increase of 5 percent, from 17,800 votes to 18,768.

Open to abuse

According to malaysiakini chief executive officer Premesh Chandran, the current polling system is open to abuse as it allows visitors to vote more than once.

"We are rectifying the system for all our future polls, and for the time being, we advise our readers not to abuse the system," said Chandran.

He said it was too late to remedy the current poll.

"We shall let it run its course before replacing it with a new poll in the next few days," he added.

Malaysiakini 's polls generally run for about a week and each survey registers between 30,000 and 40,000 voters. The current MCA poll has so far recorded about 230,000 voters, which is abnormal, and points to possible manipulation by certain visitors.

Chandran also reminded all interested parties that the poll does not reflect public opinion, merely that of malaysiakini readers.