Panel's final call for 42,051 'doubtful' voters

The New Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR: The Election Commission will be forced to strike out the names of 42,051 "doubtful" voters from its roll if their particulars could not be verified following a week-long public display beginning today.

Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said this would be the final call for the 42,051 'doubtful' voters.

"Our stringent cross-checks with National Registration Department have uncovered this 'doubtful' voters whose MyKad particulars could not be verified.

"We have to take this action to clean the roll. I hope the public will take this seriously and check out the details of these 'doubtful' voters which will be displayed nationwide."

Aziz said the commission hoped that relatives or friends of the those on the 'doubtful' list would get in touch with the commission.

He said the commission felt that it would be unfair to delete their names without first making them public.

Aziz said if these 'doubtful' voters should suddenly turn up to vote in the next general election -- despite having been deleted -- they would not be able to vote and would be advised to contact the NRD to verify their details.

"But bear in mind that 42,051 are still a small number compared with the 12.3 million registered voters we have in our electoral roll," he added.

On Tuesday, the commission public relation officer Sabri Said issued a statement that the list of the 42,052 electors would be displayed together with the electoral roll for third quarter of 2011 in 987 locations nationwide.

The list of doubtful names was not for the purpose of objection, but for verification by the electors or their next-of-kin, said Sabri.

"If the electors find their names in the list, then they should clear the matter with the NRD and sort out the their identification records, before referring the matter back to the EC," it said. 

On the electoral roll for the third quarter of 2011, he said it contained 264,404 applications for new registrations and 52,215 for a change in address. 

It added that those who had registered during the exercise from July to September but found their names missing from the list should present their case by filling up Form B and sent it to state EC offices within seven days from the date of display. 

Objections to the names in the electoral roll can be made by filling up Form C, it said, reminding the public, however, to not to make objection for the sake of objecting, but should be accompanied by valid reasons.