KOTA KINABALU: The Election Commission (EC) must review the automatic voter registration of 18-year-olds and above in Sabah, says Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS).
The party's deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Yee Moh Chai said that automatic registration should be halted in the state until the Sabah electoral rolls are expunged of suspected illegal immigrants using fake Malaysian identification documents to register.
"The electoral rolls (in Sabah) are contaminated by illegal immigrants using fake identification cards to register," he said, referring to the alleged Project IC Sabah where foreign migrants received Malaysian identity cards through fake documentation.
Yee said the EC should brief all Sabah lawmakers on the safeguards and filters used to ensure that only genuine Sabahans are registered as voters.
He lamented that the EC had yet to accept repeated PBS requests for a meeting to seek clarification on the automatic registration of voters.
“As such, while PBS supports the registration of those 18 and above as voters, the method of registration for all voters, particularly in Sabah, should not be automatic in light of the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the large presence of illegal immigrants holding fake identification cards,” added Yee, who was former deputy chief minister.
He said the EC should prove that the Sabah electoral rolls are clean and free from dubious voters and to inform the public on the safeguards against holders of fake identity cards becoming voters if it insists on continuing with the automatic registration.
“PBS wants only genuine Sabahans to be the rightful voters to decide the future of the state and country,” Yee said in a statement Saturday (July 9).
He added that at the recent PBS congress, party president Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili highlighted the 2014 RCI findings on the existence of Project IC where illegal immigrants were issued ICs to be registered as voters that benefited certain Barisan parties previously.
Yee said some Barisan leaders were quick to rebuke and attack the statement by the PBS president.
"Maybe they have something to hide, as the Malay proverb says, 'siapa makan cili, dia terasa pedas (those who eat chilli are the ones who will feel the heat)'," he added.
