After highlighting the case of a “missing” polling district in Johor and a new polling district in Pahang in a statement yesterday, the Serdang MP said:
“There are 10 cases where the number of voters in polling stations have been changed from the first public display (Syor 1) to the second public display (Syor 2).
“From Syor 1 to Syor 2, the EC can shift polling stations from one state seat to another, but it cannot change the size and composition of the individual polling stations,” Ong said, explaining that if voters are shifted from one polling station to another between Syor 1 and Syor 2, there is no way for the voters to know if they are the ones who have been shifted.
The DAP election strategist said as a result, these voters’ right to object to the redelineation exercise would be affected.
“For example, in Syor 1, the Taman Temiang Jaya polling station in the N12 Temiang state seat under the P128 Seremban parliament seat had 2,994 voters. However, under Syor 2, the number of voters has decreased to 2,412 voters.
“What I am challenging is the EC’s ability to change the composition of the individual polling stations and hence the number of voters in each polling station from Syor 1 to Syor 2,” Ong said.
He added that voters could not make an objection since they would not know which polling district, state seat or Parliament seat they would be voting in if Syor 2 is passed in Parliament.
Ong said there are altogether 10 polling districts with their voter numbers changed from Syor 1 to Syor 2.
These polling districts are part of nine state seats in Terengganu, Negeri Sembilan, Kelantan and Pahang. The discrepancy affects six parliamentary seats, namely Kuala Terengganu, Dungun, Seremban, Ketereh, Tumpat and Temerloh.
“The EC needs to state if it has made a mistake in changing the number of voters in these polling stations from Syor 1 to Syor 2.
“The failure to do so may mean that the constitutional right of certain voters to voice their objections to the delimitation exercise proposal in Syor 2 are affected,” Ong said.