Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob has reportedly uncovered a dirty tactic to prevent voters from casting their ballots at Sunday's Batu Talam by-election.

According to Bernama , he said unscrupulous characters posing as Welfare Services Department and Orang Asli Affairs Department staff are preying on flood victims.

He said this group approach flood victims and ask them to surrender their MyKad purportedly to enable them to receive aid.

He said it was a ploy to prevent the people from casting their votes.

These people had been asking the orang Asli and senior citizens affected by the floods for their MyKad for the past two days, he added.

Adnan, who is also Pahang Umno Liaison Committee chairman, advised the people not to fall prey to such tactics and not to surrender their MyKad to anyone, including the police.

Meanwhile, Raub district police chief Supt Ahmad Fadzilah Mohamad said the police had not received any report on people taking the MyKad from flood victims to enable them to receive aid.

Chinese voters

In another development, MCA is anxious to locate about 200 voters still unaccounted for in a headcount of 1,206 registered Chinese voters in Batu Talam as the party steps up its campaign for the by-election.

Pahang MCA election steering committee chairperson Fu Ah Kiow said the party believed the "missing" electorate had moved to other places but did not change their polling address.

Chinese voters make up 11 percent of the 10,525 electorate in Batu Talam, and the majority of them live in Cheroh New Village and Taman Bintang.

"We'll continue to find out the whereabouts of these voters during our door-to-door visits," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

He said the party's election machinery had also contacted some registered voters staying outside the constituency and abroad to return to Batu Talam to vote.

"To us, every vote counts," he said, adding that the party's top leaders, including president Ong Ka Ting, his deputy Chan Kong Choy and secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan would make their rounds in the constituency before polling day.

Despite the small number of Chinese voters, Fu said MCA would work hard to ensure every single vote of the Chinese goes to the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate, Abdul Aziz Mat Kiram, 47, who is facing an independent, Ng Chee Pang, 22.