KOTA KINABALU: DAP Sabah organising secretary Henry Shim has urged the Election Commission (EC) to provide an explanation over a recent complaint on voters registration that went viral on Facebook.
The said complaint arose when a resident by the name of Achmadi bin Abdul Libad found that his name was duplicated in the EC website when checking on his electoral voter status. The duplicated name, however, was registered through a police ID and not a normal IC, and the duplicated names were registered at different constituencies, but with the same date of birth.
“This is ridiculous! If the said registrations are proven to be from the same person, how could the same person appears to be in two different constituencies? If such system error appears to be within the EC’s voters registration system, how many such similar cases are already within the community of Malaysians? This has again raised the question that must be answered by the EC to the public, was it an administration snafu, or was there a conspiracy behind this?” he asked
Shim further pointed out that the EC, being the electoral commission in Malaysia set up in accordance with Section 114 of the Federal Constitution, is and has to be an independent commission serving the interest of all Malaysians and definitely not supposed to be biased to any other political parties. This is an important role by the EC to ensure that elections in Malaysia are run in a fair, transparent and accountable manner.
Shim, who is also DAP Socialists Youth national publicity secretary, added that democracy of a country is highly dependent on a system of electoral fairness, in which the spirit on ‘one ballot one vote’ signifies the public’s desire for the government of the day. If such electoral fairness were to be disrupted by questionable actions, cheating and dirty politics in order to assist some parties to power, then such flawed commission should be replaced.
Lastly, Shim urged all the communities at large to check their electoral status in the EC website, and to report any errors, if found. The initiative by the public to hold the EC accountable is one of the best ways for citizens to protect their voting rights.