KLANG, 29 March: Amid growing concern over phantom voters and electoral issues ahead of the 2013 general election, DAP today revealed a case of a voter who never registered, but discovered that his name had been added on the electoral roll.
At a press conference today, Member of Parliament for Klang Charles Santiago said that the electoral discrepancy was discovered when the victim’s father conducted a check on the Election Commission website.
The father, Siva Kumar S. Khatiramalai had suspected something was amiss when a greeting card from Prime Minister Najib Razak was sent to his son Dinesh Siva Kumar, 33 on Malaysia Day last year, despite not having registered as a voter.
Siva Kumar subsequently lodged several complaints with EC beginning from 7 February 2013 and discovered that Dinesh’s registration was ordered by one “Hishamuddin bin Kassim”, an assistant registrar of UMNO.
“After an email query to the EC in Putrajaya, Siva Kumar was told to direct his complaint to the EC’s Selangor branch. It was there that he demanded to know the name of the person who registered his son, found to be an UMNO Assistant Registrar Hishamuddin bin Kassim,” Charles said.
In an email response, EC explained that the Assistant Registrar had been terminated from his position due to several mistakes he had committed. The email from [email protected] also stated that “for further explanation, you may contact Mr Hishamuddin bin Kassim at 013-3888443”.
Action must be taken
Charles questioned SPR’s response which seemed mild and appeared to wash its hands off the matter. He said that SPR should have filed a police report to take action against the individual in question for registering a voter without his consent or knowledge.
He also questioned how the UMNO Assistant Registrar was able to obtain a copy of Dinesh’s Identification Card, and who had signed the Voter’s Registration Form A.
“This is a case which clearly shows open cheating. Next week, I will go to the EC office to seek an explanation and for the name to be removed from the electoral roll,” Charles said. He added that Siva Kumar had filed a police report on 31 January 2013 in the Klang police station.
In cahoots
“Is there a conspiracy between UMNO, the Immigration Department, and the EC? We seek a thorough investigation and want EC to reveal the names that have been registered by the UMNO Assistant Registrar, it must be made public,” he said.
Lawyer Mishant Thiruchelvam who was present, said that the case presented strong evidence of illegal activity and clear falsification of documents under section 471 of the Penal Code. If found guilty, it is publishable by three years jail or a fine.
Also present at the press conference was MBPJ Councillor Tiew Wey Keng, herself a lawyer, and another legal council Tan Tai Hwa. -The Rocket
