ELECTION Commission chairman Azhar Azizan Harun has denied leaving his officers exposed to election wrongdoing in view of the extra votes found in the Kimanis poll.

Azhar said the recent election court ruling on the Kimanis election petition was that additional ballot papers were added but did not mention who was behind it.

“Who says I am not standing up for my staff?” he said, adding that even in the Rantau election petition, he had defended EC personnel.

“I am still defending my officers. Even if it’s in personal contempt for defending him (the returning officer),” he said in Kota Kinabalu today.

Azhar was in Kota Kinabalu to present his paper on electoral reforms in a seminar organised by the Sabah Institute Development of Studies.

He said the EC move in Rantau was a very unpopular decision and that the commission was appealing to the court over the issue.

“I have taken legal advice. I think we had two, three meetings and I read the judgment.

“EC board member Azmi Shahrom, a law professor, also took a look at it and then we decided. So its not a willy-nilly decision,” he said.

Critics in Sabah have claimed that Azhar has left his officers exposed to election fraud after the EC decided not to appeal the Kimanis court decision.

Instead, former Umno man Anifah Aman filed an appeal after the court declared his poll victory null and void following the discrepancies.

“Regardless, they appeal, the EC will be made respondent. We will take part anyway.

“This is an appeal and it has to be decided based on the evidence that has been tendered in court. No more new evidence,” he said.

On August 16, the Election Court in Kota Kinabalu declared Anifah’s win in the Kimanis parliamentary constituency in last year’s general election null and void.

The court delivered the ruling after finding evidence that the ballot boxes had been manipulated, including with illegal ballot papers.

Upon inspection of the ballot boxes, the court found 284 additional ballots improperly cast in Kg Brunei and 54 additional ballots improperly added in SJK Cheng Meng.

Anifah filed an appeal on August 27 after the EC decided not to appeal to the election court ruling. – September 12, 2019.