JOHOR BARU: Police have received 90 reports throughout the Johor state election campaign period and have opened 25 investigation papers, says Tan Sri Mohd Khalid Ismail.
The Inspector-General of Police added that most cases that were reported involved minor offences such as vandalism and damage to campaign materials.
“The cases, reported up to Friday (July 10), were largely related to acts of mischief, including the removal, destruction and burning of political party flags.
“Most of these are minor cases that I believe will not create uneasiness or tension among voters or election workers,” he said in a press conference after visiting the polling centre at SMK Taman Molek on Saturday (July 11).
Mohd Khalid added the investigations were being carried out under the Penal Code, the Communications and Multimedia Act and the Election Offences Act.
He said the police had deployed about 14,000 officers and personnel across Johor to ensure security, maintain public order and manage traffic throughout polling day for the 16th Johor state election.
Mohd Khalid added that of the total, more than 5,600 officers and personnel were brought in from contingents nationwide to reinforce the Johor police contingent.
“It is the responsibility and trust placed on the police to ensure security, public order and traffic control are at the highest level so that the more than 2.7 million voters in Johor can fulfil their responsibility and democratic duty,” he said.
Mohd Khalid said he was satisfied with the overall polling process after visiting several voting centres.
At SMK Taman Molek, he said voting had proceeded smoothly across all 13 polling streams serving more than 8,000 registered voters, with no major incidents reported.
While there had been a handful of complaints from voters, he said those who were dissatisfied had been advised to lodge police reports to enable the Election Commission or the relevant authorities to take the necessary action.
“We have not encountered any major issues. Overall, everything has been running well and smoothly, and we will continue monitoring the situation throughout polling day to ensure the process remains peaceful and orderly,” he said.
