No shortage of PACA passes

> State EC chief denies Johor PKR claims, 100,000 cards provided for agents

JOHOR BARU: State Election Comission (EC) has denied claims that there was a nationwide shortage of polling and counting agents (PACA) passes.

State EC chief Shafie Taib said about 100,000 PACA passes have been provided for the agents representing 247 candidates who would be contesting for the parliamentary and state seats.

“Some people have complained that the EC had not issued adequate PACA passes. Perhaps there was a miscommunication when the passes were distributed or some parties have requested for additional passes.

“Please take note that one candidate is eligible to one pass per channel and we may give an additional pass during a change of shift,” he said when met by reporters at the EC Office at Wisma Persekutuan here yesterday.

He was commenting on claims by Johor PKR that the agents are barred from the polling stations tomorrow as the EC has run out of PACA cards for them.

Johor Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) chairman Hassan Karim said the state EC had told him it did not have enough cards for the agents.

Hassan and Johor Amanah deputy chief Dzulkefly Ahmad met Shafie yesterday.

“This shows a lack of professionalism and incompetence,” Hassan said, adding that EC didn’t have an explanation for the shortage. “How much does each card cost? It only costs a few sen. Why is there a shortage?”

The state EC proposed that each pass to be shared by two agents, Hassan said. “According to election law, this is cheating as the pass need to have a photo and signature of the pass holder concerned,” he added. It is estimated that each parliamentary seat needs about 200 to 400 polling and counting agents on polling day.