PETALING JAYA: DAP
Secretary General Lim Guan Eng has written to the Election Commission
(EC) Chairman Abdul Aziz asking for an explanation in the discrepancy of
the total number of voters announced before and after the results.
“The EC
had announced a total turnout of 39,850 voters at 5.30 pm when polling
ended, Along with 392 early votes, the total number of votes should be
40,242, if the EC’s announcement is correct.
“However, when the final results were announced the total number of votes tallied was 40,619.
“Barisan Nasional (BN) obtained 20,157 votes, DAP obtained 19,919 votes and there were 543 spoilt votes.
“There is a discrepancy of 377 votes between what the EC originally announced and the final results.
“This
figure is more than the winning majority of the BN candidate which was
238 votes,” said DAP election strategist Ong Kian Ming.
Currently,
DAP is still waiting for an official reply from the EC before they
proceed with further discussions with their lawyers.
According
to Ong, the Penang Chief Minister is intent on pursuing the matter with
the EC but the party will not be saying anything until they hear from
the EC.
On the
issue of why DAP did not request a recount for the by-elections in Teluk
Intan, Ong said that this was because the request can only be made if
the total number of votes for the first two candidates is less than 4%
of the total number of voters as in accordance with the Elections
(Conduct of Elections) Regulations 1981, Article 25, Section 13.
“Given
that our counting agents at each polling station were experienced
individuals, there was no directive to each of them to ask for a recount
if the difference was less than 4%, even though there were seven
polling streams with a difference of 4% or less.
“We were
and are confident that our experienced polling agents carried out their
responsibilities in ensuring the transparency and accuracy of the vote
count at their respective polling stations.”
“In
addition, a recount at the polling station, according to Article 25,
Section 13, cannot include spoilt or rejected votes.
They can only involve the valid votes which means that the chances of changing the final vote count is very slim and probably not enough to overturn a 238 majority.
They can only involve the valid votes which means that the chances of changing the final vote count is very slim and probably not enough to overturn a 238 majority.
“Also,
when conducting such a recount, the results could easily go the other
way i.e. more votes could be obtained by the BN candidate.
Teluk
Intan had held a by-election on May 31 following the death of DAP MP
Seah Leong Peng in which Gerakan president Mah Siew Keong had lost the
seat in the 2013 by-elections by 7, 313 votes.
Mah reclaimed the seat in the by-election which was contested by DAP first time contender Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud.
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