Rep alleges massive transfer of voters to her constituency

PENAMPANG: Api-Api assemblywoman Christina Liew yesterday claimed that more than 3,000 voters have been transferred from various locations in the west coast to her constituency.

Liew believed there were more than the 5,000 registered voters in the State whom Parti Warisan Sabah claimed had been transferred to other polling centres.

For instance, she said Api-Api state constituency had 10,500 registered voters in the 12th general election (GE12).

“In GE13, more than 4,000 voters were transferred to ApiApi constituency, increasing the number of registered voters to 14,475. These 4,000-odd voters do not live in Kota Kinabalu, but in Sepanggar, Pulau Gaya and Papar,” she said.

This time around, Liew claimed that 3,481 voters to date have been moved from various locations in the west coast, including Putatan, Sepanggar and Karambunai, to Api-Api constituency. At the same time, she alleged that around 1,000 Chinese voters from her constituency have been transferred to other polling centres.

As a result, she said, ApiApi had turned from a purely Chinese constituency to a mixed constituency.

“Of the 17,956 registered voters in Api-Api constituency now, only 52 percent are Chinese,” she said at a press conference here yesterday.

Liew said even her own legal firm had registered an additional 20 voters, none of whom she has knowledge of.

She alleged that this systematic transfer of voters into her constituency was the working of someone higher-up and powerful.

“The purpose is very obvious - to increase the chances of winning.”

She said the alleged transfer of voters to other polling centres was a despicable tactic and a complete disregard of democracy.

Liew said she would lodge a complaint with the Election Commission but opined that it might be too late as the electoral roll had been gazetted last week.

She added that it would also be difficult for her to track down the 3,000 voters transferred to Api-Api constituency in order for them to lodge complaints to the EC.

Nonetheless, Liew hoped that genuine voters in Kota Kinabalu would not give up and would come out and vote in GE14.

Liew also urged voters in Api-Api constituency to check their polling centres as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Parti Warisan Sabah claimed that it has discovered some 5,000 registered voters in Sabah were transferred to other polling centres during a check on the 2017 fourth quarter Supplementary Electoral Roll (RDPT SK4/2017), which was on display for 14 days until last Wednesday,.

Its secretary general, Loretto S. Padua, said the Data Unit of Parti Warisan Sabah also found several issues that made the validity of the RDPT SK4 questionable when the roll displayed an alarming rate of applications from voters changing their addresses.

Loretto also alleged that the parliamentary constituency of Sepanggar has a record of 932 voters having changed addresses followed by Putatan with 651, Kota Kinabalu 429 and Kalabakan 426.

“It is difficult to trace where their new location is before the RDPT is gazetted by EC,” he said.

“Last April, based on the 2017 first quarter RDPT, Penampang Warisan under the leadership of Parti Warisan Sabah deputy president Darell Leiking who is also the member of parliament of the district, won 25 of the 29 objections on names who allegedly applied to be transferred to the Kapayan state seat.

“During the inquiry, Sabah EC also discovered a voter who was totally unaware that he had been transferred to a new polling centre,” he said.