PETALING JAYA: There is an urgent need for the Election Commission (EC) to prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) if a polling centre is hit by floods.
Incumbent Klang MP Charles Santiago said the main worry is there are some polling centres that would be converted to flood relief centres and when that happens, where are the voters going to vote?
“They cannot be told just a day before voting that their polling centre has been changed. Some people might not be able to cast their votes if the roads to the polling centres or from their homes are flooded.
“The voters need to know what to do or what their options are. Therefore, it is urgent that the EC come up with an SOP explaining to voters what they need to do, if the polling centres become relief centres or access routes to them is flooded.”
Santiago pointed out that polling day is just a few days away, while early voting starts tomorrow and the EC cannot keep silent on the matter anymore.
He said people need to make plans to go back home to vote.
“What happens if the highways are flooded, how are people supposed to get back to their states to vote?”
Santiago asked hypothetically what would happen if Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang were to be flooded on election day, making it impossible for people to cast their votes but people in Johor, Malacca and Negri Sembilan can vote because they are not affected by floods.
He questioned whether election results would be fair then as they would be announced on the same day but people in the affected states would not be able to vote for the next few days due to clean-up operations, adding that the results may also influence voters in states that have not yet been able to conduct balloting.
“I have written two letters to the EC chairman and commissioner, one on Oct 3 and the other on Oct 10 but until today, there has been no reply or acknowledgment from them.”
He said the main question that remains unanswered is who will form the government if voters in some states were unable to cast their ballots.
It was reported on Nov 11 that Women, Family and Community Development caretaker Minister Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun said a total of 6,010 temporary relief centres have been identified nationwide in preparation for possible floods throughout the northeast monsoon period and 35% of them were listed as voting centres for the 15th general election.
She said the ministry, through its Social Welfare Department, was fully prepared with all flood evacuee essential items currently in disaster storage depots nationwide, pending instructions for them to be despatched.
Meanwhile, the Department of Irrigation and Drainage has issued a flash flood warning for Pahang, Selangor, Johor and Sarawak.
It said the warning was based on rainfall forecast from the Numerical Weather Prediction model by the Meteorological Department and the Southeastern Asia-Oceania Flash Flood Guidance System.
There is a risk of flash floods in some locations in the event of significant heavy rain or thunderstorms.
When contacted by theSun, the EC declined to comment on voting centres being listed as relief centres but said it would be issuing a statement soon.
