ROMPIN: Providing allowances such as cash to voters to return home to vote is not a form of bribery, as long as the giver does not order them to vote for certain candidates, Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said yesterday.

For it to be considered bribery, there must be proof that the voter was influenced by the cash and voted according to the giver’s request, he said.

Aziz said the EC had consulted the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over this and was informed that it is not an offence under anti-graft laws, The Malaysian Insider reported.

“However, I do not encourage such a practice,” Aziz told a press conference at the Rompin by-election media centre in Kuala Rompin, Pahang, yesterday.

“Based on the act, (bribery) must involve giving out money and voting, and it must be proven that they voted for a certain candidate.”

He said the MACC had also informed him if voters were given “allowances” and only told to return home and vote in their area, it is not bribery.

Bernama reported that all 32 polling centres in Rompin closed at 5pm.

An EC spokesman said four of the centres with fewer than 200 voters each had closed at 2pm — three in Pulau Tioman and another in Kuala Rompin.

Another polling centre in Pulau Tioman with 651 voters closed at 3pm while one in Muadzam Shah, which has 312 voters, closed at 4pm.

The vote tallying was done at Dewan Jubli Perak Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah here.

The voting proceeded smoothly without any untoward incident taking place.

The contest was a straight fight between Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Hasan Arifin and PAS’ candidate Nazri Ahmad to fill the vacancy left by the death ofincumbent Tan Sri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis.

Jamaluddin, who was 1Malaysia People’s Housing Corp chairman, was killed on April 4 in a helicopter crash in Semenyih, Selangor. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 6, 2015.