THERE are 73,000 voters above the age of 90 on the electoral roll, with the oldest being 150, said Election Commission chairman Azhar Azizan Harun.

He said he has been working on cleaning up the roll since his first day at the job, adding that he discovered the figures just one month in.

“There are 73,000 people above 90 on the electoral roll, the oldest being 150 years old.

“We have learnt that 10,000 of the 73,000 actually voted, so they are still alive. The balance is 63,000 people.

“I did that in just one month,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Electoral Reform Roundtable in Parliament today.

Asked if the 150-year-old voter is still alive, Azhar said he is not sure, adding that the EC will verify the matter soon.

“Well, he’s 150. Logically, you can’t be alive at 150… the prime minister (Dr Mahathir Mohamad) is 93, but this is 150.

“So, we will make sure that this is cleaned up.”

Azhar said the commission has engaged with the relevant parties to undertake the clean-up of the electoral roll and ensure action can be taken immediately.

“We have already contacted the relevant authorities, police stations that received reports over the matter and issued death certificates… can inform the National Registration Department.

“We are working on a system where when that happens, we will know about it straightaway, and we will take action.”

He said EC officers have gone from house to house checking voters’ registered addresses, following claims that there are cases where “too many” people share the same address.

For those found to not be residing at the address stated in their voter details, “we call them, we try and determine where they are”.

“We will take action… if they are not there,” he said, adding that in some rural areas, homes do not have “proper” addresses.

On the Rantau state seat, Azhar said the EC cannot yet announce a date for the by-election as an appeal has been filed.

“We cannot announce it yet because there is an appeal, we have to wait until the appeal process is settled.

“The Federal Court has six months to decide on the appeal, but I think they will decide on it sooner.”

Yesterday, Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan filed an appeal against an election court ruling that nullified his Rantau win in the 14th general election.

Judge Azimah Omar, making the ruling on November 16, said the returning officer for the area had been wrong to stop PKR candidate Dr S. Streram from filing his nomination papers, allowing Mohamad to win the seat uncontested. – November 30, 2018.