Bersih takes EC to task over electoral roll discrepancies

PETALING JAYA: Bersih 2.0 is not dismissing the possibility that the Election Commission (EC) is intentionally tampering with the electoral roll to favour a certain party in the upcoming elections.
Its chairman Maria Chin Abdullah (pix) said the electoral watchdog uncovered newfound discrepancies which saw voters in the same household or locality registered in different state assembly or parliament seats.
"While some inaccuracies can be put down to honest human error given the flawed system, Bersih will not rule out intentional tampering to tip the scales to favour a certain party.
"This is because the occurrence of such mistakes are happening repeatedly," she told a press conference, here, today.
Maria said while the EC has repeatedly claimed that it had corrected the electoral roll in every quarter, new errors were found alongside existing ones.
"The EC would do well to start improving or overhauling their system rather than blaming their bad image on negative perception," she said.
Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh said she had attempted to contact the EC on several occasions over discrepancies in her parliamentary area, but EC personnel refused to meet her.
She said there were members in the same household on Jalan Beserah that were registered in two separate state seats, Beserah and Teruntum.
"I am questioning the validity of the electoral roll, because if you register enough people in the wrong constituency, it can affect the result of the election.
"After they refused to meet me, I am inclined to believe they are no longer working independently and are helping certain parties to win," she said.