MyKad misuse: Bersih urges EC to investigate election officers

SHAH ALAM - The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) is urging the Election Commission (EC) to investigate the election officers regarding reports of the misuse of identity cards by others during the state elections held on Saturday.

In a statement, Bersih said that such wrongdoing has caused the legitimate owners of the identity cards to be unable to fulfill their voting responsibilities.

According to the statement, using someone else's identity card is an electoral offense under Section 3(1)(l) and Section 7 of the Election Offenses Act, which involves voting in a constituency where one is not eligible to vote and impersonation.

"The incidents were reported to have taken place at Seberang Marang Secondary School (SMK), Terengganu; Raja Uda Village Primary School, Selangor; and Mahsuri Garden Primary School, Kedah.

"The EC should immediately conduct an investigation at the polling stations where these errors were reported, especially the first and second stations responsible for verifying the identity of each voter," the statement read.

The statement further noted that as many as 94 reports on similar offenses were received by the police and such incidents had also occurred during the previous 15th General Election (GE15).

"Abuse of identity cards and impersonation during elections is a grave offense as it has deprived genuine voters of their right to vote, thereby compromising the integrity of the voter roll and the electoral process.

"Therefore, the Home Ministry and the National Registration Department (JPN) should conduct a transparent investigation and clarify this issue to the public," the statement added.

According to Bersih, the investigation at the parliamentary level should also include obtaining reports on the electoral process from the EC, such as expenditure details, election-related issues, and voter roll issues.