The Election Commission has refuted claims in the social media that an individual with the name Ab Rapar Awang is in possession of three identity cards and will be voting in three different locations in Pahang.
EC secretary Datuk Kamaruddin Mohamed Baria (pic) said their checks revealed that it was a case of three different individuals bearing the same name, Ab Rapar Awang, all with different identity card numbers, pictures and thumbprints.
He said Ab Rapar Awang's case was not uncommon as there were many people having the same names in the country.
“For example, there are 1,507 names in the Voters Registry for Ismail Ibrahim, Fatimah Abdullah (1,401 names), Fatimah Ismail (1,377), Fatimah Ahmad (1,377), Ismail Ahmad (1,368) and Azizah Ahmad (1,039 names).
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“Their 12-digit identity card numbers are different and so are their photographs on the cards which shows they are different individuals but with the same spelling for their names.
“Thus, allegations by certain quarters that those with the same name is the same person is untrue.
"It is impossible for Ismail Ibrahim to own 1,507 identity cards as the identity card numbers on those names vary.
“In Ab Rapar's case, we found three names with the same spelling in the EC Voters' Registry. However, these three names had different identity card numbers, pictures and thumbprints.
“Voters in the Registry are identified by their identity card numbers and not their names as the EC realises that if we use their names it will create confusion as there are those who have the same names but different identity cards,” he said in a statement.
Kamaruddin stressed that voters could not vote more than once as each voter, including those who voted in advanced, must have their fingers marked with indelible ink.
“Ballot papers will not be issued to those who refused to have their fingers marked. The purpose of the indelible ink is to prevent attempts by individuals who try to vote more than once,” he said, adding that a different colour of indelible ink would be used for advanced voters.
He urged those who discovered suspicious things' in the Registry to contact the EC at 03-8885-6565 so that it could be investigated.
