EC denies accusations of early counting in Bagan Datuk

PETALING JAYA: The Election Commission (EC) has denied claims that votes were counted after the early voting process in Bagan Datuk, Perak.

EC chairman Tan Sri Mohd Hashim Abdullah also condemned the actions by a group of people including a candidate who caused a disturbance at the polling centre at Kem Hutan Melintang.

"The group created a ruckus because they claimed there was misappropriation in the safekeeping of the votes. This is not true as the process to count the early votes will only begin at 4pm on polling day (May 9)," he said in a statement on Monday (May 7).

He added that in the meantime the votes are securely held at the Hutan Melintang police station.

"All the procedures were followed by the EC staff during the early voting process in front of the candidates' agents. When it is time to start counting the votes, we will get all the relevant people to be present and monitor the counting process, including the candidates," he said.

Tan Sri Mohd Hashim Abdullah said the early voting at Kem Hutan Melintang saw 1,541 registered early voters with 508 of them opting for postal voting.

"Out of the remaining 1,033 early voters, only 825 turned up," he said.

Bagan Datuk is a parliamentary seat contested by deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (BN), Ata Abdul Muneim Hassan Adli (PAS) and Pakhrurrazi Arshad (PKR).