A GABUNGAN Rakyat Sabah leader has proposed that the Election Commission (EC) make it compulsory for Sabah voters to show their birth certificates, in addition to their MyKad, when voting on Nov 19.
According to GRS Penampang chairman Kenny Chua, this was one way to stop dubious voters from casting ballots during the 15th general election (GE15).
“The irregular spike in the number of voters is of great concern to the people in Sabah. This is one solution which we think will be effective and the EC should adopt it to stop dubious voters in the state.
“MyKad alone will not be enough,” Chua, of Parti Solidariti Tanahairku, said in a statement that was endorsed by the Penampang GRS division committee today (Oct 24).
Chua is echoing the concern of various Sabah leaders over the latest electoral roll released by the EC which revealed a 53.9% (or 574,120) increase in new voters from 1,064,686 in 2018 to 1,638,806 in 2022.
Much of the increase was said to have occurred between 2018 and 2020, two years before the voting age was lowered to 18, and automatic voter registration came into effect.
In Keningau there are more than 30,000 new voters, bringing the total number of registered voters to more than 80,000. In Sepanggar, the electoral roll shows a 72% increase from 62,000 in 2018 to 107,000.
The racial identity of the new voters is also being called into question as many of them are registered as Malays, a relatively uncommon practice among Sabah natives.
Sabah is also home to a sizeable Chinese population and a very small Indian community.
Projek IC fears
The spike had sparked suspicions of another “Projek IC”, an infamous programme in the 1990s for the systematic granting of citizenship to undocumented migrants and residents.
It has been reported that Sabah has had a long-standing problem with illegal immigrants due to its porous border with the southern Philippines.
On this matter, Chua further noted that over the years Sabahans have lost confidence in the MyKad’s legitimacy to prove the identity of genuine Sabahans.
He also pointed out that three individuals – one of them an officer in the National Registration Department (JPN) from Semporna, were arrested in 2019 for involvement in the issuance of birth certificates and MyKads to undocumented persons.
However, he conceded that showing one’s birth certificate before voting may also not be a full-proof solution to the problem. – Oct 24, 2022
Main photo credit: Malay Mail
