KUCHING – Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen has urged the Election Commission (EC) to clarify on polling centres, which he claimed have been changed without prior notice.
DAP, he said, will write to the EC today as such a situation did not take place during the previous Sarawak polls and will only inconvenience voters in carrying out their duty.
“In the past, there was no such problem. Now, we found out several polling centres have been changed without their knowledge. We urge the EC to clarify and explain why such things happened.
“If you are a registered voter, please do check at the EC website to identify your voting centre. For that purpose, we are setting up a booth for checking voters’ registration and helping them identify their voting centres,” he said in a press conference at the DAP Sarawak headquarters today.
Chong said one case involved a voter, who resided in Kuching for years and previously voted in the Pending seat, finding out that he and his wife must now cast their ballots in Sarikei, Miri instead.
He also claimed that the standard operating procedures (SOP) for the state election were not set with the purpose of curbing the spread of the Covid-19 virus in mind.
He argued that in 64 state constituencies where physical “ceramah” (political talks) are allowed, the SOP stated that the talks must be held indoors, not outdoors. However, he said, medical experts will state that the virus spreads easily indoors.
Yesterday, EC announced that face-to-face ceramahs or talks during the campaigning period of the 12th Sarawak election are only allowed in 64 constituencies with poor internet access. – Bernama, December 7, 2021
