RANTAU, April 13 — Election Commission (EC) chairman Azhar Harun today chided political parties involved in the Rantau by-election after spotting several booths erected too close to the polling centres.
He issued a reminder on the election dos-and-don’ts yesterday.
“I'm not impressed with some of the candidates and their parties who're showing a lack of discipline when it comes to obeying electoral laws,” Azhar told reporters after an inspection at SK Nyatoh, one of the 14 polling centres for the Negri Sembilan state poll.
“I have seen some warung panas and after warning them, 15 minutes later they're at it again,” he said, using the Malay term for the booths set up by political parties to help voters check their eligibility and polling streams.
Azhar said he saw three such booths that were too near the 50-metre limit outside SJK (T) Sendayan, adding that one of them was operated by Pakatan Harapan.
“I implore the candidates and their respective parties not to blatantly break the rules. This is not a good image and not one you want to portray to the people. Plus it can be made an issue and brought up in the electoral petition later on,” he said.
He said the EC would be recording these offences and filing a police report later.
He explained that the EC was not taking immediate action against the offenders as it wanted to avoid any tension that could discourage voters from casting their ballots.
Azhar also said voters could check their status directly with the EC at its booths instead of approaching the political tents.
* Editor’s note: An earlier version misstated that the booths crossed the 50-metre limit and has since been corrected.
