MELAKA – Two individuals today managed to slip into a polling station in Ayer Molek to “signal” voters to cast their ballots for certain parties.
However, the jig was up once it was detected by polling agents for Pakatan Harapan candidate Mohd Rafee Ibrahim at SK Bendahara Seri Maharaja, reported Getaran.
“The individuals were sitting under a tent provided by the Election Commission, signalling the public to vote for certain candidates,” Rafee alleged in a press conference this afternoon at his operations centre.
“My polling agents successfully got EC officers to drive the two individuals away from the polling station. I feel such incidents must be looked into by the EC.”
Rafee stopped short of revealing who the individuals were canvassing for.
Meanwhile, he was unhappy over “unfair treatment” after PH polling agents were shooed from the same polling centre.
“I was told by my polling agents that they were instructed to leave with the excuse that the minimum two-hour duty period is over.
“Either the polling centre’s person-in-charge is negligent or fails to understand the clause in the Election Offences Act 1954.
“The ‘minimum’ phrase in the clause means ‘at least’. So, if our polling agents leave the centre after an hour on duty, the remaining hour cannot be replaced.
“Unfortunately, after two hours, my polling agents were told to leave. So I wonder if the person really understands the provisions of the law or if this was a deliberate mistake.”
He added that a police report has been lodged.
The Ayer Molek constituency is seeing a four-cornered fight featuring Rafee, Barisan Nasional’s Datuk Rahmad Mariman, Mohd Fadly Samin from Perikatan Nasional, and independent Ahmad Muaz Idris. – The Vibes, November 20, 2021
Additional reporting by Fitri Nizam
