KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 — The Election Commission (EC) will be introducing video cameras to monitor all voting streams for the Kimanis parliamentary by-election.
Its chairman Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun gave his reassurance that the video cameras will only be used to record the voting process and that voter privacy will not be violated.
“The EC would like to inform that using the cameras at all streams will not violate voter confidentiality as the cameras are installed far from the ballot boxes and the presence of the candidates’ agents at voting centres will be maintained,” he said in a statement today.
The cameras will be managed by EC officers, and will be installed at all 68 voting streams as an effort to improve transparency.
He explained that its use will allow the EC to review the voting process and as reference to conduct training and improve its services in future elections.
Voters in the Sabah west coast parliamentary seat will cast their ballots this Saturday.
The election is a straight fight between Barisan Nasional’s Datuk Mohamad Alamin, who is Kimanis Umno division chief, against Warisan’s Datuk Karim Bujang.
There are 29,644 voters in Kimanis, comprising 42 per cent Muslim Bumiputras, 41 per cent non-Muslim Bumiputera and 6 per cent Chinese and the parliamentary constituency is made up of two state seats, Membakut and Bongawan.
The Kimanis seat was declared vacant after the Federal Court on December 2 upheld the Election Court’s ruling, nullifying former foreign minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman’s victory in the 14th general election in May 2018.
Anifah had won the seat with a 156-vote majority, securing 11,942 votes against Karim’s 11,786 votes while another candidate, Jaafar Ismail of Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah, had obtained 1,300 votes.
Early polls took place today.
