ELECTORAL watchdog Bersih 2.0 has slammed the Election Commission (EC) for failing to act on alleged manipulation of the electoral roll following a claim by Red Shirts movement leader Jamal Md Yunus that he secured 7,000 new voters in the Sekinchan state seat.

Bersih said the EC was colluding with politicians who “cheat” to win in the next general election.

“As long as the EC continues to fail in protecting the people’s democratic right to fair elections, the only possible conclusion is they are working hand-in-glove with these unscrupulous parties to aid their efforts in deciding the outcome of the 14th General Election before a single vote has been cast,” Bersih’s steering committee said in a statement today.

Jamal, who is Sungai Besar Umno division leader, had told the Subang Umno Youth meeting on Sunday night that he had been working to move voters to marginal constituencies and said he had 7,000 new voters in Sekinchan, Selangor.

“We will move the voters using all methods possible even though it will cost us millions,” he had said.

Bersih today demanded that the EC take immediate steps to stop manipulation of the electoral roll.

“Now, political leaders can openly admit to cheating to win elections with no response from the EC,” the coalition of interest groups said.

In the case of Sekinchan, Bersih said the state assemblyman Ng Sued Lim had filed more than 1,400 objections to Draft Supplementary Electoral Roll for Quarter 1, 2017, on the moving of “phantom voters” into his constituency.

“Given the severity and scale of the fraud, the EC must take a proactive approach to investigate all suspicious voter movements, as provided for in Section 13(2) of the Elections (Registration of Electors) Regulations 2002. 

“The police must also investigate these attempts to subvert the democratic process and tamper with our elections.

“However, instead of acting on the evidence, the EC has been assisting in hiding this wrongdoing by refusing to provide copies of draft electoral rolls with complete information and ignoring requests by NGOs and political parties to meet and discuss this issue,” Bersih said.

Bersih has long been fighting the issue of phantom voters, and last submitted a memorandum to the EC two months ago on the matter.

“The fight to clean up the electoral roll has been ongoing for over a decade. A Parliamentary Select Committee and a Royal Commission of Inquiry have found blatant evidence that the electoral roll has been manipulated for the benefit of certain parties. Hundreds of thousands of Malaysians have rallied in the streets over this issue,” Bersih said, referring to mammoth rallies it had organised in Kuala Lumpur since 2007 to protest against electoral fraud. – July 31, 2017.