EC urges candidates' agents make fair reports

SEPANG: The Election Commission (EC) has urged the candidates' agents on duty on polling day for the 14th General Election (GE14) to submit fair reports to their parties on the election process.
EC chairman Tan Sri Mohd Hashim Abdullah said there were too many issues which had gone viral on the social media on the election process when it is actually being monitored by the agents who have been appointed by the candidates and their political parties.
"Such as on early voting day on May 5, there were many things which went viral, so I urge the agents to provide their respective parties with the correct information on the election process at the places they have been stationed. Do not make up stories.
"If the political parties feel there is a problem at a particular place, they can contact their agents for confirmation," he told reporters after welcoming international observers at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) here today.
He said these agents, who are on duty during the elections, play a very important role as they are people who are loyal to their respective parties.
"The EC is not a political party and only has a role in managing the election as fairly and as transparent as possible. We are trying our best to do the best, that is our objective," said Mohd Hashim.
He had said in a previous statement that the election process for GE14 would be monitored by more than 200,000 agents of the candidates or contesting political parties.
They would be divided into several categories, namely election agents, booth agents, polling station agents, counting agents, postal voting agents, agents for opening the postal vote envelopes and agents for counting of postal votes.
Mohd Hashim also advised the public, especially voters, not to be quick to believe the messages about GE14 which had gone viral on the social media or the WhatsApp application which had mostly been created to confuse them.
"This could be one of the election strategies of certain parties. Sometimes they can influence (voters)," he said.
Mohd Hashim said the latest messages were on the ways to mark the ballot papers and attire to be worn to the polling centres, both of which were never issued by the EC.
"We never said there was a specific way of marking the ballot paper from one corner to another, while there were some who said you had to use rulers. That is not correct.
"We are not rigid on the way to mark the paper. Similarly, we never issued any rules for clothing," he said.
Earlier, Mohd Hashim welcomed the arrival of international observers from Thailand and India who arrived on a flight from Bangkok at 12.15pm.
They were the second group of international observers who have so far arrived in Malaysia to monitor the GE14 process on Wednesday (May 9). The first group arrived from Maldives at KLIA at 7.20am today. — Bernama