PENAMPANG: Upko has urged the Election Commission (EC) to verify the authenticity of hundreds of voters in Sabah who are registered with just a single name according to the latest electoral roll.
Upko president Wilfred Madius Tangau said a quick check on the electoral roll for the Tuaran parliamentary constituency revealed dozens of voters registered with only one name and no last, or family, name.
“I am not sure why that is the case. I would assume that, being Malaysians, all citizens with genuine identity cards have full names.
“This (issue) is not in Tuaran only. It is all over Sabah,” he said at a press conference here, adding that the EC needed to ensure that the voters were genuine citizens who were eligible to vote.
Several ‘single name’ voters were found on the electoral roll for the Tuaran parliamentary constituency.
“They shouldn’t be allowed to vote until their identities are verified. The EC should take steps to make sure the electoral roll is clean.”
The former Tuaran MP said that within his constituency, most of the voters with single names were found under the Dalit state constituency.
Dalit is a new state seat and includes the Telipok Ria area near Sabah’s biggest refugee camp for Filipinos.
Most of the refugees are IMM13 cardholders, which gives them the right to live and work in Sabah, but not to vote.
Many holders of the IMM13 document originally came to Sabah as refugees fleeing the civil unrest in the southern Philippines in the 1970s.
There are an estimated 600,000 migrants in Sabah, including dependents or families of the original IMM13, “kad burung-burung” and census card holders.
* Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss.
* Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.