‘102 missing votes’ halt final tally of results

IPOH: More than 100 votes are “missing” at the Ipoh Barat PKR branch election at Indra Hotel here yesterday.

Chief invigilator Mohd Hatta Marzuki said the disappearance of 102 votes registered through the e-voting system had halted tallying of the final results.

“A total of 470 voters turned up today (yesterday) and 12 doubtful votes were recorded, leaving only 458 votes to be counted.

“However, out of the 458 votes, only 356 votes were keyed in into our system at the headquarters.”

Hatta said there were many possibilities that could have contributed to the problem, such as technical problems or voters failing to press the “send” button to land their votes.

“Our technical team is doing its best to identify and fix the problem and we will get the results by tonight. All the candidates have agreed to wait for the final and official results,” he said, adding that 17 other branches in Perak also faced the same issue.

The unofficial count from the Ipoh Barat branch had Rafizi Ramli leading Datuk Seri Azmin Ali in the contest for the PKR deputy presidency with 178 and 149 votes.

Unofficial results indicated that Rafizi had emerged the winner in the party polls in Perak.

As of 8.30pm, Rafizi had reportedly obtained 6,785 votes compared with his opponent, incumbent Azmin, who secured 4,274 votes, giving Rafizi a 2,511vote difference.

Rafizi won in 19 out of 24 branches in Perak, while Azmin won in four divisions.

The results in Gopeng showed a tie.

Azmin won in Beruas, Taiping, Lenggong and Bukit Gantang.

Rafizi, meanwhile, reportedly won in Gerik, Tambun, Pasir Salak, Bagan Serai, Larut, Lumut, Parit Buntar, Padang Rengas, Sungai Siput, Ipoh Timur, Ipoh Barat, Batu Gajah, Parit, Kampar, Tapah, Bagan Datuk, Kuala Kangsar, Teluk Intan and Tanjung Malim.

A total of 64,324 party members cast their votes.