BERSIH TRIBUNAL Klang MP Charles Santiago today said that the Election Commission (EC) refused to verify the people’s suspicions on whether a busload of foreign workers were indeed phantom voters intending to vote in his constituency during election day.

“I called the EC and asked them to come down and verify if these people had voted. But the EC said it’s past 5pm and thus their job is done,” Charles told the People’s Tribunal on GE13 organised by Bersih 2.0 today.

NONE Charles ( left ) was referring to the election day incident where a bus with 18 passengers, 17 of them foreign workers, was halted and attacked by an angry mob of locals near a school in Pandamaran.

While the locals have been charged with attacking the bus, Charles revealed how the EC refused to verify allegations of phantom voters even though provided the opportunity to do so.

He was the first witness to appear before the tribunal today, which is being conducted by UM law professor Gurdial Singh Nijar in front of a five-person panel.

The panel is chaired by a constitutional expert from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Yash Phal Ghai.

Charles also said that the EC had previously established and acknowledged that there was a discrepancy in 60 voters being registered to the same address in Pandamaran, Klang.

“I raised this issue in Parliament and with the EC, and the EC did send a team and acknowledged this matter,” he said.

“But they told me that they can’t do anything because the electoral roll has been gazetted,” he further added.

Charles said that the house owner, whom he said he had personally met, was a party operative for the “ruling coalition”.

“However, the owner told me that he did not consent to his address being used for any other voters,” he added.

'Both BN and Pakatan vehicles ferrying voters'

Meanwhile, another fellow witness in front of the tribunal today, Pemantau volunteer Lye Yoong Seng, said that he saw both BN and Pakatan vehicles ferrying voters to and from polling centres.

“Most of the cars bore BN logos and symbols. But I also saw a few Pakatan vehicles doing the same,” he said.

He said that he then followed a BN vehicle from the polling centre and saw the vehicle dropping off passengers at a BN election booth, where food was being served.

“As far as I know, ferrying voters is an offence,” Lye told the tribunal.

The other witnesses in front of the tribunal today included Tindak Malaysia chief Wong Piang Yow, another Pemantau volunteer, PKR’s Machap candidate Ginie Lim, PKR polling agent Abu Hussin Tamby, and a visually impaired woman, Inungkiran Mangijal, who claimed to have been registered without her consent.

Related stories

Poser over BN's presence at tribunal on GE13

GE13 complaints are a waste of time, says EC