Newly-formed election watchdog My Election Watch (MEW) questioned today irregularities that it claims occurred during the casting of ballots by Hulu Selangor’s Orang Asli voters.

bukit gantang by election mafrel pc 300309 ong boon keong “We found several strange and funny things,” said the organisation’s head Ong Boon Keong ( right ).

                        

One of the irregularities, explained Ong, is the 180 Orang Asli voters from a village in Pertak who have been split to two voting stations: some to Ampang Pecah, and others to SRJK Fraser.

The reason for dividing the voters, he said, was questionable.

“I asked the Election Commission’s (EC) enforcement officers at the voting stations as to why this is so. Their answer was that this is because of congestion.

“(But) this is weird. How can such a small number cause congestion? The voting centre can accommodate 600 people,” said Ong.

More strangely, added Ong, all the Orang Asli who voted had their particulars recorded in a notebook by several red-shirted Wanita Umno members.

“I don’t know why they are doing this. There was also another group of unidentified Orang Aslis doing the same thing (recording the particulars of those who voted), ” he said.

The activist added that he had taken pictures of the Wanita Umno volunteers and the unidentified group, as well as the contents of their notebooks.

Ong said he had he had tried to contact both the state EC and returning officer Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan about MEW’s concerns, but to no avail.

‘Barricades’

“There is also the case of barricades being erected to block the entrance to the Orang Asli villages last night,” Ong added.

hulu selangor elizabeth wong police report orang asli village barricade An Orang Asli by the name of Antares had lodged a police report on the matter at the Kuala Kubu Baru police station. This is in addition to another report lodged by Selangor Exco and Bukit Lanjan assemblyperson Elizabeth Wong ( left in white shirt ).

Malaysiakini was informed later that the barricades had been taken down by police, who intervened after Wong’s report .

One of the ‘gangsters,’ who was said to have punched a visitor and smashed a camera after the latter tried to take a picture of the barricade that was set up, was also taken into custody.