Selangor’s new stand on voters ‘clears’ EC
SHAH ALAM: The Parti Keadilan Rakyat-led Selangor government has backtracked on its earlier allegation concerning the authenticity of some 400,000 new voters in the state.
Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said a vast majority of the new registrants had already been accounted for in a state government study launched to investigate its own doubts over a spike in voter registration.
He said the state government had already traced some 80 percent of the 400,000 supposedly dubious new voters and were still tracking the remaining 50,000 new registrants.
Khalid had said the state would conduct a study to identify "every one of the almost half a million new voters registered since 2008, including scrutinising whether the voters and addresses in the rolls really existed".
The study was reportedly carried out in all the 56 state constituencies in Selangor, which saw an increase of between 3,000 and 21,000 new voters for each state constituency.
In an immediate reaction, Election Commission deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said the commission had been vindicated.
"Now, the truth is out. The voters on the electoral roll are legitimate.
"I have stressed time and time again that the increase of 400,000 new voters in Selangor since the 2008 general election is logical, considering the aggressive efforts by the EC and representatives from political parties to register new voters.
"Selangor had 700,000 eligible voters who had not registered after the 12th general election, the highest in the nation.
"Because of this, the EC launched an aggressive promotion exercise, including appointing some 3,000 assistant registrars in Selangor alone, including representatives from all three Pakatan parties."
Wan Ahmad said the EC's system was linked to the National Registration Department database.
"Our process is rigid. We vet the names carefully and display the names of new voters for a week where people can object. We are also cooperating with the Defence Ministry and police to ensure no cheating. There is no reason to doubt the list and discredit the EC."
Khalid, when asked if Selangor had made a final decision to hold separate elections, said the state would hold a concurrent election if it was called on March 8 next year.