State will file objection over EC redelineation exercise: Guan Eng

BUTTERWORTH: Penang state government will file an objection over the Election Commission (EC) electoral redelineation exercise before Oct 14, said the chief minister Lim Guan Eng (pix).
Lim, who is also Bagan MP, said the EC redelineation exercise was unfair to Penang as few seats in the state will be affected by the exercise.
"We have 30 days, until Oct 14, to file objections. We will file it soon," he told reporters after visiting Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan (Tamil) Mak Mandi, Tingkat Mak Mandin here today.
The DAP secretary-general said the proposed redelineation affected two state seats, namely, Paya Terubong and Air Putih.
"The redelineation does not balance the voters in the two state seats but rather added more voters for Paya Terubong to 41,000 while my constituency (Air Putih) reduced to 12,000 voters.
"Why did they reduce my voters," he asked.
Lim said the redelineation exercise should balance out the registered voters for each constituency to make each vote count, and not to create imbalances that could benefit certain parties.
"We are also studying to see whether we can file a suit in court against this exercise," he said.
He also accused the EC of attempting to help Barisan Nasional (BN) win back some seats through this exercise.
The Paya Terubong state constituency had 39,649 registered voters in the last general election,while Lim's state seat, Air Putih, had 13,803 registered voters.
It is reported that the EC has been heavily criticised over the redelineation exercise with Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders accusing them of using it to help BN recapture some of its seats.
The EC has refuted allegations that the exercise was meant to benefit certain parties.
Objections to the EC recommendations can only be made by state governments, local authorities who are partly or partially included in the redelineation exercise, or a group of at least 100 registered voters of an affected constituency.
The EC in an 18-page notice had reportedly proposed to alter the electoral boundaries of several parliamentary and state constituencies in all states bar Perlis, Labuan and Putrajaya.
The proposed amendments could see 12 parliamentary and 34 state constituencies in the peninsula undergo a name change, while it also proposed 13 new state constituencies for Sabah, increasing the number of the state seats to 73.