The voters register provided by the Election Commission (EC) for the Kuantan division in Pahang contains 'serious discrepancies', claimed Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) Wanita chief Fuziah Salleh today.

Fuziah, who also helms the wing's Kuantan division, said this included the name of one postal voter being registered with two polling stations.

"We made the discovery after a thorough inspection of the register. If it can happen here, it can happen elsewhere too. Something must be done to check this," she told malaysiakini .

As to the other discrepancies in the register updated by the commission last year, the Keadilan leader said it failed to state the complete addresses of voters, making it difficult to verify their authenticity.

"Almost 80 percent of the voters listed in the register do not have proper addresses. No house numbers or lanes provided, just their localities. How can we track these voters if we don't have complete addresses.

"We know that the commission's database has the complete addresses of all voters but what is the motive of the commission to deny us the complete addresses. Are they trying to keep us from meeting the voters?" she asked.

Deceased voters

Fuziah also expressed her disappointment with the EC for failing to delete the names of deceased voters as this could be abused.

"I expressed my concern to the state election director who replied that I have nothing to worry about since dead people can't vote. When I told him that someone may pose as this deceased voter and cast a ballot, he just shrugged it off.

"The director seemed to take our complaints personally which should not be the case. We just want to know how these problems occurred and how they can be rectified," she added.

Fuziah also wondered whether such discrepancies occurred in other parts of the country or merely confined to Kuantan - where the parliamentary seat is controlled by Umno secretary-general Khalil Yaacob.

In the 1999 general election, Khalil won the seat by beating Fuziah with a majority of 7,361 votes out of the total 45,718 votes cast.

It's 'impossible'

Responding to the charge that a postal voter had been registered with two polling stations, EC chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said it was "impossible" for such a mistake to occur.

"But, if they (Keadilan) have proof they can come to us because we also want to find out how it can happen and rectify the record. We are always willing to check... but I don't think the allegation is valid," he said when contacted.

On the grouse pertaining to incomplete addresses, Abdul Rashid said the commission did not reveal complete addresses as they have received complaints from the public over this.

"People complained that the information infringed their privacy. Not only that, they told us that their personal information had led to criminal and commercial abuses.

"We have complete address of all voters which will be used on election day but for the voters' register we just furnish the localities. So there is nothing to worry about," he said.

As for still having deceased voters on the list, Abdul Rashid said the commission could only delete the names upon receiving confirmation from the National Registration Department.

"We cannot simply delete the names without official verification and sometimes the dead voters' list comes late.. . kita tak jaga orang mati (we don't take care of dead people) ... so it is not our fault," he added.

Abdul Rashid said if his explanation failed to satisfy the Keadilan leaders, then they could always refer their complaints to the commission's headquarters in Putrajaya.