BUKIT MERTAJAM: A 61-year-old had a rude shock yesterday morning when she arrived at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tanah Liat at 8.30am to cast her vote in the Permatang Pauh by-election.

When she handed her MyKad to an Election Commission (EC) officer, Faridah Zakaria was told she could not vote because a ballot had already been cast under her name.

“It was a shock to me. I never had such a problem before. The EC officer said they will investigate, but they could not let me vote,” she told The Malaysian Insider.

Faridah said she would wait for her lawyer to assist her as she was adamant about voting in the by-election.

Tan Soo Eng, 70, had the same problem when she went to Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (C) Jit Sin A and B. She was told that someone had voted using her name as well.

“I am so disappointed. I was looking to vote,” she said.

Tan took her complaint to Pakatan Rakyat leaders stationed at a makeshift operations centre outside the school.

Kebun Bunga assemblyman Cheah Kah Peng, who was at the centre, said Tan was even told by an EC officer to dip her finger into the indelible ink.

“But one of our polling agents managed to stop her. These cases show that there is a great flaw in our system,” he said, adding that such cases must continue to be highlighted.

He said the cases were documented with photos and videos, and then uploaded onto the Internet.

“We do this because we want the people, namely voters here, to come out and vote. They must always vote early to prevent others from using their identities to vote on their behalf illegally.”

Cheah said reports would also be lodged with the relevant authorities.

DAP Permatang Pauh by-election director Steven Sim said that yesterday’s incidents were proof of phantom voters in the Permatang Pauh by-election.

He cited PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli who highlighted the issue on Wednesday after they visited houseowners who were given voter slips of people they never knew existed but supposedly lived with them. “We have also received numerous reports since this morning (yesterday) of names being removed from the voters list, transferred to other polling stations or even to other constituencies although the person in question has voted in a particular centre before and has not changed his or her address.”

Sim also cried foul over road resurfacing works carried out by the Public Works Department in Samagagah and Penanti.

The works caused congestion and discouraged some voters who were working yesterday from going to vote during their lunch break. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 8, 2015.