KOTA KINABALU: A voter has filed an election petition to annul the Sindumin results based on a video purportedly showing an “election officer” crumpling a ballot paper during the Nov 29 vote counting for the seat in the 17th Sabah Election.
The voter, Wendey Agong Baruh, 34, named the Returning Officer for the Sindumin state constituency, Abdul Karim A.M. Zahari, the Election Commission and Parti Warisan’s winning candidate, Yusri Pungut, as the first, second, and third respondents, respectively.
His election petition was filed through lawyers Ag Amli Noraufe Ag Nohin and Norlaily Anuar at the Kota Kinabalu Court Complex here on Friday (Dec 27).
According to court papers filed, Wendey stated that he was a registered voter in the Sindumin constituency and had the right to file a petition under Section 34 of the Election Offences Act 1954.
He sought to annul the election results on the grounds of non-compliance with election laws under Section 32(b) of the Election Offences Act 1954, which had affected the election outcome.
Wendey’s claim stems from a video shared by one Junaidah Makku on Dec 23, 2025, allegedly showing an “Election Commission officer” wearing a fluorescent yellow-green vest marked “Petugas” (Staff) allegedly crumpling an “orange” ballot paper during the counting process.
The paper was allegedly hidden between the ballot box and the white box labelled “undi belum di kira” (votes not yet counted), according to Wendey, who believes that the attire indicated he was an official assigned by the returning officer.
Wendy said that Junaidah had uploaded a video and told him that she received it from Ricky Cheong. Ricky claimed that the incident took place shortly after 6pm on Nov 29, 2025, at Saluran 3, SK Melalia, during the counting of ballot papers.
In court papers, Wendey claimed that crumpling ballot papers, whether valid or rejected, constitutes an offence under Section 3(1)(c) of the Election Offences Act 1954 that could affect the vote tally for all candidates.
Yusri won the Sindumin seat by a 362-vote majority after securing 5,086 votes to defeat his closest rival, Pakatan Harapan’s Datuk Yamani Hafez Musa, who secured 4,724 votes in the 10-corner contest for the seat in Sabah’s south-western Sipitang district.
