Rafizi's team to probe election results in 27 seats
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Nineteen of the seats were contested by PKR, and the rest by Pakatan Rakyat coalition partners DAP and PAS.
PKR lost by a small margin in the seats of Baram, Pasir Gudang, Machang, Ketereh, Bagan Serai, Kota Marudu, Beaufort, Setiawangsa, Segamat, Ledang, Balik Pulau, Kulim Bandar Baharu, Muar, Hulu Selangor, Sabak Bernam, Merbok, Pensiangan, Tebrau and Saratok.
DAP lost in Bentong and Labis, while PAS lost Kuala Selangor, Sungai Besar, Titiwangsa, Pulai, Kuala Kangsar and Pendang.
In the 13th general election on May 5, BN won 133 seats against Pakatan’s 89.
Had Pakatan won the 27 parliamentary seats under scrutiny, it would have formed the federal government for the first time with a simple majority.
Rafizi said that his team, dubbed 'Siasat PRU13', has received 237 reports of irregularities which have been classified in four categories:
- A narrow margin of victory, of less than five percent
- A narrow margin which may not tally with the spoilt votes recorded, where the number of spoilt votes is bigger than the margin of victory
- The percentage of postal voters and early voters which bypassed the margin of victory of the normal voters, where the outcome was affected by the postal and early voters
- Seats where there was alleged fraud and where police reports have been lodged
The team will begin to record statements from witnesses from next week and to highlight the irregularities discovered to the media.
In addition to the 27 federal seats, there were similar problems in eight state seats in Kedah, Penang and Perak, said Rafizi.
However, the team will focus on the parliamentary seats. It will have help from 67 volunteers who comprise accountants and lawyers.
System ‘heavily stacked’
Rafizi noted that the candidates have 21 days after the election results are gazetted to file petitions in court.
Asked if highlighting the alleged irregularities to the media before these are presented in court could disrupt proceedings of petitions, Rafizi said Pakatan has to be realistic because the system is “heavily stacked against those who want to mount a challenge”.
“The law is written by BN and it is stacked against us (because) the Number One flaw is with regard to the defective electoral roll.
“Ever since the Likas petition in 2001, the electoral roll cannot be challenged (due to an amendment). Even if we have a Bangladeshi or Indonesian being allowed to vote as they have identity cards, this cannot be challenged.
“We know there is a slim chance and everything may be against us but we have to create a momentum (to show that) that cheating to skew the election results exists.”
He claimed that BN is not going to respect the wishes of the people and will manipulate the results in whatever way it can.
The Likas petition had seen the Kota Kinabalu High Court declare the results null and void due to irregularities in the electoral roll. Following the ruling, the Election Act was amended to bar legal challenges to the electoral roll.
Six types of offences
Rafizi listed six types of violations or fraud during the general election:
- Legitimate voters were not allowed to cast their vote as they were marked as already having done so.
- The BN bought votes by offering money or vouchers which could be exchanged for cash, as had been discovered in Balik Pulau, Penang.
- There were unidentified voters at various addresses; the owners of these premises had lodged police reports.
- The indelible ink used to mark the voter’s index finger could be washed off.
- The Election Commission officers signed the Form 14 before counting began, and did not hand the form as required by the law to the candidates or their representatives.
- Foreigners had been issued an identity card so that they could vote.
Rafizi further noted that postal voters and early voters, who usually account for 20-30 percent of opposition votes had declined to 10-15 percent.
“There is something wrong, When we asked them after they had cast the votes, about 50 percent said they had (voted for Pakatan parties), but this was not reflected in the results. The 10-15 percent recorded from early votes was the poorest showing (to date),” he added.
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