KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 — A DAP lawmaker today questioned what he described as “frivolous” objections raised in Selangor against newly-registered voters.

Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming alleged that in September alone, 952 objections were raised in Selangor against new additions to the state’s electoral roll, as well as the change in existing voter addresses.

Many of these, however, were later rejected by the Election Commission (EC) over a failure to meet requirements.

Ong then suggested the possible involvement of Umno after claiming to have recognised party members at one of the public hearings on the objections.

“When I was at the Selangor EC’s office during the public hearing, I met two Umno representatives.

“It is hard to resist from speculating that this is part of a desperate attempt by Umno to win back some of its state seats,” he told reporters at his party headquarters today.

Ong added that there were no basis to the objections raised and many should not have even been considered by the EC. He added that Selangor assemblymen will try to meet with the EC to discuss the matter further.

“We will write to the Selangor EC and try to meet with them to discuss this. Among our demands are that they do not simply accept objections and increase the fine to dissuade individuals from making spurious demands,” he added.

Kuala Kubu Bharu assemblyman Lee Kee Hiong and Teratai assemblyman Tiew Way Keng also joined Ong in alleging that Umno members had a hand in disrupting voter registration in their respective constituencies.

Selangor Speaker Hannah Yeoh said her Subang Jaya constituents were also targeted by numerous objections especially university students looking to be first time voters.

“In Subang Jaya, many of the university students are being targeted. It causes a lot of problems for the parents especially when some of them are studying overseas,” she said.

Yeoh added that the objections have become a “trend” since the last general election and appears to be geared towards making things “inconvenient for young voters who tend to vote more for the opposition”.

Polls reform group, Bersih 2.0 steering committee member Thomas Fann meanwhile condemned the mass objections as an “abuse of legitimate process”.

“We are concerned how widespread this abuse might be. It is a real concern,” he added.