Azmin alleges fraud in Selangor voter drive

March 29, 2011

Azmin: The National Registration Department should also be monitored because many reliable sources have reported that JPN is issuing identity cards outside office hours and at suspicious locations.SHAH ALAM, March 29 Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Selangor backbenchers chief Azmin Ali accused the Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government today of issuing identity cards to illegal immigrants to boost their electoral votes.The Bukit Antarabangsa PKR assemblyman did not substantiate his claims citing reliable sources and accused the National Registration Department (JPN) of working with BN to issue identity cards in illegal immigrant squatter settlements in the state.We must be careful with the voters who are taken out and brought into Selangor.The National Registration Department should also be monitored because many reliable sources have reported that JPN is issuing identity cards outside office hours and at suspicious locations for illegal immigrants to ensure the continuity of Umnos political power, he told the Selangor state assembly today.A total of 130,097 new voters were registered in Selangor last year.According to the Election Commission, 70 per cent of the 4.3 million unregistered voters are between the ages of 21 and 40.About 450,000 Malaysians turn 21 each year, the eligible age of voting in this country.However, with about half a million Malaysians reaching the eligible age of 21 each year, new voters are still there for the taking.The number of voters being registered is also picking up pace ahead of a snap election widely speculated to be held this year.The Election Commission said that 290,000 were registered in the last quarter of 2010, twice as much as in the first quarter.Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders also told The Malaysian Insider that it was at risk of losing the support of youth between the ages of 19 and 22 to BN, and that there was currently a gap between PRs youth leade! rship an d student leaders in public universities.In January, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that a RM20 million grant, funded by 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), will help encourage the young to participate in the countrys nation-building.