The Election Commission has again denied manipulating the 14th general election in favour of any party, following accusations by the electoral reform group Bersih.

It reiterated that the electoral process was run by personnel appointed from members of the public, and was witnessed by agents representing political parties and candidates.

“The EC has never interfered in any proceeding, including during the counting and tallying of ballots. The full GE14 results are in Pakatan Harapan’s favour, and the smooth and orderly transition of power is proof that the election was run transparently and fairly.

“In this matter, the EC is prepared to give full cooperation to prove that no manipulation or abuse had occurred during GE14,” EC chairperson Mohd Hashim Abdullah said in a statement yesterday.

Bersih had earlier presented the preliminary findings of its Pemantau election monitoring programme, and accused the EC of “working tirelessly” to ensure BN’s victory.

These include the alleged manipulation of electoral boundaries, abetting phantom voters, obstructing voter registration, and introducing new regulations that favour BN.

Bersih called for all seven EC commissioners to resign or be removed from office within 100 days in order to pave way for reforms.

It also said it had received over 1,000 complaints during the election, including 278 on polling day itself, ranging from allegations vote-buying to irregularities in the electoral process.

It said it will release a full report regarding these complaints “within weeks.”