EC: Elections managed by public members, not EC alone

PETALING JAYA: The Election Commission (EC) has rubbished claims that it was not transparent and was meddling with the election process, claiming that the majority of those involved in the process were members of the public themselves.
Its chairman Tan Sri Mohd Hashim Abdullah said the handling of the elections was not done solely by the EC, pointing that the commission only has 750 officers to boast, mostly assigned with managing administrative and operating matters.
"Elections are handled together with the rakyat, especially voters as well as political party members and candidates who are contesting.
"For the 14th General Election, we have appointed over 250,000 election officers comprising members of the public. The election process will also be helped by over 200,000 officers who are party representatives or those picked by the candidates contesting in the election," he said in a statement today.
Mohd Hashim said the public who were appointed to help in the election process would be tasked to monitor the voting process, counting of the ballot, as well as the counting and keeping of postal ballot papers, and would be assigned at nomination centres and polling centres, among others.
The majority of the public appointed comprise of civil servants, school teachers, private sector workers, individuals, university students and those who are experienced in politics.
He added that for the party and candidate representatives appointed, they would be tasked as observers for the whole election process, including checking voters' list, monitoring the voting process and the counting of ballot papers.
"As such, the accusations and perception claiming the EC has cheated during elections are baseless and uncalled for. In fact, it is an insult to election officers comprising the rakyat and those picked by the political parties themselves.
"Hence, any quarters accusing the EC as such just means that they are actually accusing Malaysians and election officers because they are the front liners during elections," he said.
Mohd Hashim added that he hoped Malaysians would give their trust to the commission and election officers in conducting and fulfilling their responsibilities during the forthcoming elections.