KOTA KINABALU: Sabah recorded the highest number of voters being struck off the electoral rolls with 13,917 disqualified over the last three years. 

     They include 2,000 people who had since passed away while the others were for multiple registration. 

     Election Commission Chairman Datuk Harun Din said efforts are being made to detect the multiple entrants. 

     "The verification task is very difficult because we do not know whether the person is the genuine owner of the Malaysian Identity Card that he or she produced when registering as voters," he told a press conference at the Pan Pacific Sutera Hotel, here, Tuesday. 

     The Commission would work with the National Registration Department to determine the real owners of the ICs. 

     "We do not want to see that the genuine owner or a Malaysian being struck off the electoral rolls," he said. 

     He said the commission would also detect which of the multiple entrants are Malaysians. 

     He said some had similar names or similar identity card numbers. 

     According to him the number of electorate eligible to vote in the coming election has increased about 20 per cent. 

     There are 697,336 eligible voters for the coming election compared to 598,312 in 1994, he said. 

     On the possibility of voters being transferred to other constituencies without their knowledge, he said, the Commission would display the electorate names for inquiry. 

     "A person can make an inquiry if they find out that the name has been transferred to another constituency." 

     On perparations for the coming election, he said officers and staff involved would be trained on the smooth conduct of election procedures. 

     "As part of the early preparations, returning and assistant returning officers attended a three-day training programme in March to enable them to discharge their duties efficiently," he said. 

     He said some RM5 million is expected to be spent for the coming polls, most of which would be used for hiring helicopters to ferry election officials and ballot boxes to polling stations in remote areas. 

     Harun said 603 polling centres and 1,085 polling stations would be used for the election.