“NO, no, no. These are all strange names,” Nur Sida, a pensioner said after being shown a list of 358 of her “neighbours” in Rizab Sarbini, a one-lane kampung with nine homes.

The 55-year-old housewife has lived for four decades in Sg Labu, a protected Malay reserve land in the coastal town of Sekinchan in Selangor. 

According to the Election Commission’s (EC) electoral roll last year, it was also the home of newly registered voters, some from as far away as Sabah.

Some residents have Chinese and Indian names, which locals said was impossible as Malay reserve land can only be sold to Bumiputeras.

“They are outsiders. They langsung (absolutely) have no connection to this land,” said Samsudin Abdullah, the village chief of neighbouring Kg Tali Air 8.

“We dislike people who come here only once, on election day, and they can influence the administration of our area. We don’t like that,” said the 50-year-old farmer.

Kg Tali Air 8 saw 419 new voters registered in the draft supplementary electoral roll in the first quarter of this year. 

Many of the new voters have since been removed by the EC following objections by Sekinchan’s incumbent Ng Suee Lim.

According to EC’s 2013 electoral data, Sekinchan’s 16,247 voters comprise 56% Chinese, 42% Malays and 2% Indians. The Malays are of Javanese and Banjar majority.

EC now classifies demographic data. Any person on the electoral roll for a constituency can question the validity of new voters.

An objector is only allowed to object once and not to more than 20 new voters. Each objection is subject to a RM10 fee and must come with evidence that the new voter is not a valid resident of the area.

“It takes away so much of my time. Each time, I have to put in 100 hours of work and I need at least 50 supporters to help me object to the new list every three months,” Ng said. 

Ng, who has held the Sekinchan state seat since 2004, started objecting since the fourth quarter of 2016, when he stopped 1,191 new voters, including the 358 newly registered voters in Rizab Sarbini.

“There are even Orang Asli names on the list,” said Ahzaman Mat Noor, 52, a village leader in Kg Tali Air 7. 

“We don’t object to voters being registered. We cannot allow outsiders to determine out future,” said the retired fisherman. 

Chia, a wholesaler of jenahak (red snapper), who has been living in Sekinchan for 40 years, blames Umno for the alleged increase in the number of voters. 

“What they are doing is racist. They are trying to increase the number of their supporters in a Chinese-majority area,” said Chia, who is a Gerakan member. 

“People like me are becoming minority in our own area. I feel I cannot do anything any more.” – August 1, 2017.