KUALA LUMPUR, 9 Apr — More than 240,000 ballot papers are now suspected to be prone to manipulation, following the new requirement by the Election Commission (EC) for civil servants serving as election officials to register as postal voters come the 13th General Election.
According to the DAP Assistant National Publicity Secretary, Teo Nie Ching, a teacher attending an EC briefing on 7 January has informed the party about the latest EC ruling.
“It is now obligatory for civil staff serving as election officials to be postal voters. The matter is dubious since, during the 2008 elections, civil servants are allowed to vote in their respective constituencies [on the polling day itself].
“They can also have their meals and for Muslim officials, perform their prayers,” Teo said in a press conference, here.
Teo urged the EC to allow its officials to cast their votes through advanced voting, instead of via post, so that the plausibility of the whole voting process can be monitored by agents from political parties.
“We hope that the EC could listen and take action on the grievances that arise,” she said.
In a polling system that have appeared to openly sideline demands for electoral reform by large members of the civil society, the risk of electoral fraud to happen haunts high on postal votes.
Pakatan Rakyat rooted strongly for the demands made by the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (BERSIH), one of which is to abolish postal voting.
It is believed that postal voting exposed voters to threats made by certain parties, while the overlapping of names in the electoral roll has enabled many voters to simultaneously vote via postal voting and to vote on the polling day. — The Rocket
