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Malaysia voting as scheduled despite vote-rigging investigation
A team of election officials has yet to make a conclusion about the case.
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Inspection: General Elections Commission (KPU) official Hasyim Asy’ari (right), Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) official Ratna Dewi Pettalolo (center) and Overseas Election Committee (PPLN) official Yusron B. Ambary (left) inspect a warehouse filled with ballots for next week’s elections at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Friday. (Antara/Agus Setiawan)
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ndonesian election authorities in Malaysia have ensured that the voting process for Malaysia-based voters will be held on Sunday as scheduled despite the ongoing investigation into alleged vote-rigging.
Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) head Abhan said the agency had not yet made a conclusion about the case following the discovery of precast ballots in two separate locations in Malaysia, but ensured that the investigation would not affect the voting schedule in the country.
Some 1 million voters are registered to cast their ballots on Sunday in the neighboring country, but a number of parties demanded that the voting be rescheduled pending the investigation of the vote-rigging allegation.
Read also: Calls for postponement of voting in Malaysia amid vote-rigging allegations
A video, which circulated on Thursday, shows a number of people raiding an empty store in Selangor, Malaysia, and finding marked ballots in favor of certain presidential and legislative candidates.
Abhan said a team of officials from the agency and the General Elections Commission (KPU) had visited locations in which the precast ballots were allegedly found; an empty store in Taman Universiti Sungai Tangkas Bangi and a house in Bandar Baru Bangi. The Malaysian police, however, have sealed both places and the team could not access them yet.
Abhan added that the team and the Foreign Ministry had filed a request to access the places, but had not yet gained approval.
“We hope we can access the places soon. It will be very easy for us to verify the validity of the [marked] ballots,” he said on Saturday.
Indonesian voters in Malaysia make up the majority of the total overseas voter population at about 2 million. Indonesia-based voters will cast their votes on Wednesday. (swd)
