KOTA KINABALU: Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) wants the Election Commission (EC) to brief Sabah MPs and assemblymen on the automatic registration of 18-year-olds into the electoral roll.

       PBS president Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili (pic), in making the call, said this briefing on auto registration should be made as soon as possible.

       He said the call was made following a unanimous decision during the party's Supreme Council meeting on Thursday (Nov 4).

       "We stand firm with our previous decision that while we welcome the registration of 18-year-olds as voters, we strongly disagree that it is be done automatically, considering the polluted electoral roll in Sabah," Ongkili said.

       He said this polluted electoral roll was proven in the previous Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report on the large presence of illegal immigrants in the state.

       "As such, we want the EC to brief us (Sabah MPs and assemblymen) on what are their precautionary steps to ensure that only genuine Sabahans are registered as voters," he stressed.

       Referring to the polluted electoral roll in Sabah, Ongkili said there had been evidence, as stated in the RCI report, on the existence of phantom voters, mostly holders of genuine identification cards obtained through dubious manners.

       "It is important to clean up our electoral roll of these phantom voters," he said).

       Ongkili, who was Kota Marudu MP, added that PBS had been trying to secure appointments to discuss the matter further with the Federal and State EC, but no dates had been given, as yet.

       "We hope the EC will call for the briefing soon and provide us with their assurance that the electoral roll is cleaned up before the next election," he said.