Kota kinabalu: A total of 603 election offences were recorded during the 17th Sabah state election campaign, said Election Commission (EC) chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun. “Of the 603 cases, 81 involved police reports while five were reports to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and these matters are under the action of the relevant agencies,” he said. He told reporters after visiting Sekolah Kebangsaan Kawang polling centre here today.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, he said the action under EC involved minor issues such as the installation of campaign materials that did not follow the rules. ‘The actions under the EC are minor offences such as campaign materials and so on. We have already taken action on these matters such as taking down inappropriate posters or the like,’ he said.

Ramlan further mentioned that the EC also emphasised the transparency of the vote counting process with party agents at each counting table. ‘We will ensure that every agent is present until the counting is completed and finally we will ask for agreement from the agent that the process has gone smoothly. As long as the agent does not sign, we will not consider the decision as a final decision,’ he said.