PBS tells divisions to scrutinise electoral roll after mysterious voter surge

KOTA KINABALU – Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) has told all its divisional leaders to scrutinise the electoral roll in view of the suspicious surge of new voters across Sabah.

The party’s information chief Datuk Joniston Bangkuai has claimed that the 53.9% spike in Sabah voters validates PBS’ concern about the likelihood of illegitimate voters in the state.

“The party’s divisions need to go above and beyond to proactively scrutinise the electoral rolls for names that could be alien to them.

“Compile and report these findings to the party headquarters so that we have a basis to pursue the next course of action,” said Bangkuai.

It was reported that a study of the Election Commission (EC) statistics has revealed a remarkable increase of 574,120 new voters in Sabah compared to the previous election four years ago when 1,064,686 people were eligible.

The report also revealed that the increase was not due to the implementation of Undi18 this year, which has enabled automatic registration of voters and lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. 

It pointed out that the increase happened between 2018 and 2020.

Bangkuai said the appearance of more than half a million new voters since the last election warrants a thorough review of the voter roll.

He said PBS would be exploring legal avenues to dig into the relevant data to scrutinise the state’s significant growth in registered voters.

PBS president Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili had previously said Undi18 should not be extended to Sabah until after the existing voter list is vetted and verified thoroughly, although he supports the move to allow those aged 18 to vote.

Bangkuai said PBS had also made repeated requests for appointments with the EC to obtain assurance that the Sabah electoral records are clean and devoid of questionable voters, as the EC insists on continuing the automatic registration for 18-year-olds in Sabah.

The requests, however, have not been entertained to this day.

SAPP president Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee and Sabah Star president Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan have also urged the authorities to review the new electoral roll. – The Vibes, October 19, 2022