KUALA LUMPUR – The chances of electoral cheating during the vote-tallying process are extremely slim as the Election Commission (EC) has a robust system in place, said an expert.
Election analyst G. Manimaran, a former member of the Electoral Reform Committee, said instances of tampering with ballot papers or boxes were “very rare” or “won’t happen at all”, for a host of reasons.
Firstly, Manimaran said during the vote-counting process – which usually commences at the polling stations within half an hour of their closure – would be carried out in the presence of voting agents appointed by the election candidates.
“Every single vote will be counted in front of them (polling agents) and the number of votes will be filled up in a form, which would then be signed off by all polling agents,” he said when contacted by The Vibes.
Manimaran was responding to concerns of tampering with ballot papers and boxes, especially while they are in transit from the polling stations to the district polling centres.
He said after the initial vote count at the polling stations, which are usually schools or community halls where people cast their votes, the ballot papers would then be returned to the ballot boxes before they are transported to the district polling centres.
However, he suggested that any form of tampering during the transfer of these items would be futile as votes collected at the polling stations would have already been counted and signed off by the polling agents.
Furthermore, he noted that the transfer of the ballot boxes would also be done with the help of the police and in the presence of polling agents to ensure the process is not interrupted.
He said the boxes will then be brought to the district polling centres where all the votes from all polling stations would be tallied according to the respective channels, or voting streams.
He said due to the signed-off documents – namely Forms 13, 14, and 15 – the candidates will have the list of votes accumulated based on every stream.
“All the votes will be tabulated in front of everyone (polling agents and returning officers),” Manimaran said.
“There’s no room for cheating.”
Asked about what transpired at the district polling centres, Manimaran said the returning officers would finalise the tally from all streams and polling stations, and the results would need to be signed off by all candidates or polling agents.
If there are complaints of irregularities, Manimaran said the returning officer would still proceed with the finalised results, but the candidates can raise a dispute in court by filing an election petition, and that it was up to the courts to look into the merits of the claims.
Responding to previous allegations of election results changing after electrical blackouts at certain district polling centres in the past, Manimaran said these claims were unfounded.
“There is no proof that results had changed during the blackouts. Even if it did happen, the candidate can always file an election petition, but there was none at all.” – The Vibes, November 18, 2022
