Newly-Registered Voters Called Up For EC Hearings Due To Dubious Complaints From Strangers
Those who do not turn up for these hearings risk having their names removed from the electoral registry.
By Samantha Khor — 24 Aug 2015, 05:08 PM
If you or anyone you know receive a letter notifying you of a 'bantahan' (objection) against having your name listed in the electoral register, particularly one from the Office of Elections (Pejabat Pilihan Raya) of the state you registered to vote in, it is important that you do not brush it off
Detailing his experience on Facebook, newly-registered voter Zhi Peng received such a letter on 14 August requesting his attendance at a public inquiry on Thursday morning, 20 August at Kompleks PKNS Shah Alam
The letter states that if he does not appear at the inquiry, there is a possibility of his name being removed from the Rang Daftar Pemilih Tambahan (RDPT)
Also attached to the letter is a particular Borang D, an official notice to the person of whom the objection made, that states the person's full name, IC number, address, and most importantly, the reason behind the 'bantahan'.
In Zhi Peng's case, the 'bantahan' filed against him was due to some alleged discrepancies in regards to his identification and/or registered address.
He wrote, "My registration application to have my name entered into the electoral register was challenged and the reason given was 'Pemilih tidak dapat dikenal pasti/tidak tinggal di alamat yang didaftarkan' (Voter cannot be identified/does not live in registered address).
From the get go, a red flag was raised because I have been living in this address for the past 10 years. The fact that I received the letter alone was enough to disprove this.
And what does 'pemilih tidak dapat dikenal pasti' even mean? They had my I/C number, full name and full address stated in the Borang D as well, if still 'tidak dapat dikenal pasti' then how else?"
When he arrived at the hearing, Zhi Peng found out that not only newly-registered voters were being challenged and required to show up for a public inquiry, veteran voters were being called up for alleged discrepancies too
He was also perplexed as to why a random person was willing to put him through all this trouble, especially since the 'pembantah' did not even raise any solid points to back up his 'bantahan'. The judge eventually threw out the case due to insufficient evidence, but Zhi Peng remarked that the whole thing felt "so scripted".
He also pointed out that the complainant has filed objections against 4 or 5 other people, but only 2 have turned up, exposing the rest to the possibility of having their names removed from the electoral registry by default
Worryingly, Zhi Peng's account isn't an isolated case.
On 18 August, Malaysiakini reported that about 30 newly-registered voters from some constituencies in Selangor were ordered to attend a hearing by the EC following a protest against their electoral legitimacy by a group alleged to be UMNO members.
DAP Teratai assemblyperson Tiew Way Keng said she suspected the group was from UMNO as she saw them in blue uniforms when she attended the hearing at the Selangor EC office with two of the voters yesterday morning. Besides the two voters from Pandan, Tiew said she also noted that voters from Rawang and Taman Templer were also present.
"They were called to attend the hearing under Subsection 15(8) of the Election (Voters Registration) Act, which allows for their electoral legitimacy to be challenged," she said.
The voters affected had registered during the first quarter of 2015. Objections against them were that they were not citizens and their addresses did not exist.
According to one complaint document sighted by Malaysiakini, a man protested against six of the newly-registered Pandan voters.
malaysiakini.com
DAP Teratai assemblyperson Tiew Way Keng speculated that this may just be the "tip of the iceberg", saying that more complaints may be filed against newly-registered voters in other constituencies
Pointing out that newly-registered voters in her constituency are facing similar complaints too, PKR Rawang assemblyperson Gan Pei Nei said that these incidents might obstruct people from registering as voters
"This may affect our efforts to encourage more Malaysians to register as voters. They may now find it troublesome to register as voters," Gan said.
She did not rule out the possibility that opposing parties may be doing this to obstruct more people from registering as voters.
malaysiakini.com
On the other hand, Datuk Mohd Shamsuddin Lias - formerly of BN-UMNO, said that it is common for political parties to check the electoral roll and challenge newly-registered voters whom are thought to be dubious, which he explained is their legitimate right to do so
PAS and PKR also had their members turning up to check the electoral roll almost every day, Shamsuddin said. However, he refused to acknowledge if Umno issued a directive to its members to identify so-called dubious voters.
"They (the complainants) were said to be UMNO members. But even so, what's wrong with that?" Shamsuddin asked, saying it was their legitimate right to file a protest.
"I myself encouraged my UMNO members (in Tanjung Karang) to check the electoral roll. We have a duty to make sure the electoral roll free of phantom voters," he added.
malaysiakini.com