EC: Umno has only itself to blame for not checking electoral roll

comments     Kevin Tan     Published     Updated

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.

For the rest of this story and more, subscribe for only RM150 a year. If you're already a subscriber, please sign in.

Sign in Subscribe now


Malaysiakini
news and views that matter


Sign In