A group from Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) student council has alleged that campus authorities tampered with proceedings of their recent polls.

 

In an open letter sent today to assistant vice chancellor Abdul Malek Abdul Karim, the group, which goes under the banner Transformasi Mahasiswa, claimed a mixture of carrot and stick, as well as missing e-votes, were used to influence the outcome of the Nov 27 elections.

 

Signed by 14 student leaders, the letter said Transformasi Mahasiswa has received various complaints and evidence from students who reported threats and other forms of intervention from campus authorities on election day as well as during the campaign period.

Malaysiakini has contacted the university authorities for their response but has yet to receive a reply.

 

“The selection process during the campus elections this time shows that there was unfairness, especially when students are blackmailed and threatened by the management.

 

“We have photographic evidence that shows the officers in charge in one student residential housing trying to influence the voters,” claimed the student leaders.

 

The letter said that one student reported being told, “Don’t vote (for) someone who’s against university.”

 

“We have also received complaints that the warden of the Proton Residential College was trying to influence the international students not to vote for the Pro-Universiti candidates,” they said.

 

A ‘threat’ to campus democracy

 

The students said that these actions are “unhealthy” and threatens campus  democracy.

 

“We (students) feel that the actions have killed the campus democracy which we ‘thought’ were free from the interference of HEPA.

 

“Campus politics like this is unhealthy as well as it chortles the rights and freedom of students to choose their leaders freely without the influence of any parties.

 

“We are clear that the duty of HEP as the Campus Elections Committee is to supervise and ensure the election process happens smoothly and transparently, not interfere in the elections,” they said in the letter.

The students also questioned the claim that the e-voting system used in the election was flawed, and asked about the 7,912 votes which went “missing” and are unaccounted for by the system.

 

“Transformasi Mahasiswa refutes the justification that was given by the officer on duty where he claimed that the votes were spoilt, something which does not happen in the e-voting System.”

 

They added that despite the candidates from Transformasi Mahasiswa getting the highest tally in the elections, not a single candidate was chosen to be a part of the student body’s Supreme Council.

 

The students also claimed they have video evidence that the administration interfered even in the previous campus elections for the 2013/2014 session.