Kajang by-election: No ‘sudden spikes’ as EC records 17 new advance voters

The Star, Wednesday March 19, 2014 

KAJANG: The Election Commission has dismissed claims by PKR that there was a sudden spike in the number of advance voters who will cast their ballots today, saying there are only 17 new voters since the last general election.

EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said in the last electoral roll used for the May 5 polls, Kajang constituency has 1,180 advance voters comprising police personnel and their spouses.

“For the Kajang by-election, we are using the latest electoral roll which is till Jan 26. The number of advance voters in Kajang to date is 1,197. 

“This shows that there are only 17 new advance voters and I don’t think this number can be considered as a sharp increase,” he told The Star.

“On nomination day, both contesting parties were furnished with all the facts and figures pertaining to Kajang. It baffles me why they want to lie about things like this,” he said.

According to EC’s records for the 13th general election, there were 507 advance voters in The Royal Malaysian Police College and 673 in the Kajang district headquarters.

Today, the number of advance voters stands at 506 and 691 at the respective two locations.

Earlier, PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has questioned the sudden spike in the number of advance voters who would be voting in the Kajang by-election.

“That is what we are concerned about when previously the number of registered advance voters was only about 300 but has now jumped significantly to 1,197.

“We are quite worried as the trend is that most advance voters would more likely vote for Barisan,” she said when approached after her walkabout at Sungai Kantan, here, yesterday.