GE15: Ban cameras, phones in polling booths to curb vote buying, says PBK chief

SIBU: The Election Commission (EC) should ban cameras and mobile phones in polling booths to discourage vote buying, says Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan.

He said candidates or political party representatives could make an “advance partial payment” to voters, who would then take a photograph of their crossed ballot paper in the polling booth as proof.

“To claim the balance payment, the voter (will) show the photo of the ballot paper, taken with their camera or mobile phone, before dropping it into the ballot box,” he said in a statement on Friday (Oct 21).

Voon said a payment of, say, even RM200 could be significant to some because of the current economic downturn.

PBK is a Sarawak-based opposition party with its headquarters in Kuching. It was registered in 2013.

The party made its electoral debut in the 2018 general election by contesting the Sarikei parliamentary seat but only managed to garner 392 votes, resulting in the loss of the candidate’s deposit.

For GE15, PBK has agreed with Parti Sarawak Bersatu to jointly use PSB’s logo.