The Election Commission (EC) today ticked off ruling party Umno for raising a complaint about the electoral roll discrepancies only after the Anak Bukit by-election in July.

Speaking to the press after chairing a commission board meeting in Putrajaya today, EC chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said the party should have identified the alleged 500 phantom voters if it had been diligent in doing its homework prior to the by-election in Kedah two months ago.

He said the commission had advised all political parties, including Umno, to check the electoral roll for discrepancies when it was first displayed for review. The party failed to do so and hence did not highlight the disparity then.

"I have to be straightforward. They don't care. We always tell them but they still did not care, did not check, and did not object [to the electoral roll]," he said.

Last week, Prime Minister and Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad alleged that PAS manipulated the electoral roll in Anak Bukit to include more than 500 voters who did not belong in the area. PAS however denied the claim.

Other Umno leaders echoed the call for EC to clean up the nation's electoral roll and take the phantom voter menace seriously. The opposition parties, including PAS, also joined in the fray to call the EC to probe the allegations.

'Easy job' admission

Abdul Rashid admitted that the commission had its job "made easy" when no one complained about the electoral roll earlier.

Thus, all those whose names were on the electoral roll were considered legitimate voters, he said.

"If their names are in there they are eligible to vote. Our law is such," he stressed.

However, Abdul Rashid said the complaints brought to his attention will still be investigated.

He dismissed allegations that there could possibly be another electoral roll apart from the existing one.

He however did not discount that certain political parties may have printed copies of the electoral roll to be distributed among its supporters working at the "canvassing booth" on the election day.

He said discrepancies may arise if the unrevised electoral roll were printed and distributed instead of the latest one.

"Sometimes, parties may give their people the money to print the new copy but these people pocketed the money themselves and distributed the old copies instead. Of course, there will be names which will not appear in the old copies. Their names will not be found because the invalid electoral roll is used," he said.

Show proof

Abdul Rashid said all those who claimed that there were two different sets of electoral roll should come forward with their proof.

"Prove that we have done wrong," he said.

He added that PAS did not raise any complaints about the electoral roll.

"Opposition parties including PAS had no complaint on the electoral roll. They did not complain because they know which electoral roll [to use]. Their canvassing booths have no confusion. I don't want to accuse other parties of not doing their homework but PAS did their homework well," he said.

Abdul Rashid noted that PAS was very particular about their electoral roll.

Asked about PAS' complaints during the by-elections for the Anak Bukit state seat and Pendang parliamentary seat, he clarified that PAS only complained that dead people were allegedly found on the electoral roll.

However, the EC told PAS that it only accepts verification from the National Registration Department which could take years.

"We only accept names from NRD [as regards] the dead people. We just cannot delete the names. But PAS refused to accept this fact," he said.