KOTA KINABALU, Oct 21 — Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin asked the Election Commission (EC) today to provide an explanation regarding the drastic rise in the number of registered voters in Sabah.

The Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman said the rise was concerning as the number of voters for the 15th General Election (GE15) rose more than 50 per cent compared to GE14 voters.

The concerns centred around the high increase in Bumiputera Muslim voters in Kadazan Dusun Murut (KDM) areas, including the Penampang parliamentary constituency, and the matter required clarification to dispel the concerns raised.

"Following such a high rise in the number of voters, political parties in this election (GE15) will be indirectly affected,” he said in a statement today.

Media outlets had reported previously that voters in Sabah had increased drastically from 1,064,686 voters in GE14 in 2018 to 1,638,806 voters this year for GE15.

Bung Moktar also requested that the EC consider early voting or postal voting for university students, especially those who have just registered at their respective universities to enable them to vote in GE15.

He said their right to vote should not be dismissed, especially as young voters aged 18 were allowed to vote through automatic registration effective December 15 last year.

"We are aware that university students are also part of the 18-year-old voters who are currently studying and some of them have just registered to start their sessions at all universities in the country.

"Therefore, this group needs to be given the flexibility to cast early votes or postal votes so that their rights as voters are not disregarded,” he said. — Bernama