My wife voted in the last general election of 2004 for the parliament and state seat of Kota Melaka and Bandar Hilir respectively. Her name is E Meng Chui and NRIC No: 481012045274.

On Feb 23, just like everyone else, she asked our daughter to check on the Internet for the location of her polling station. Our daughter was surprised that the search result drew a blank. She tried a few times with the same response.

After two days of pondering, my wife and I felt that something was not right. We felt that we should satisfy our curiosity to try to find out why her name is not in the electoral list and to rectify the problem. Our first thought was to go to MCA’s and DAP’s the ‘Bilik Gerakan’.

Sadly, both of them were of no help apart from telling us what we already knew - that my wife’s name was not on the registered voter list. Frustrated that we could not get any solution to our problem, we decided to visit the Malacca EC office the next day.

At the EC office, Feb 26, we were told that my wife’s name had been deleted from the latest voters’ list as her NRIC number and her name sent by the National Registration Department (NRD) classified her as ‘Sudah Mati’ or ‘Deceased’.

With the assistance from the head of Malacca EC, we went to see the state NRD head that evening itself. We were assured that they will give priority to our request and rectify the problem as soon as possible. We told them that with the mistake rectified, my wife’s right to vote can be immediately restored.

The next morning, Feb 27, my wife received a call from the NRD in Putrajaya saying that her ‘Deceased’ status has of now been reversed. She is now ‘alive’ again. We received a fax to this effect almost immediately. Congratulations! This is what we call efficiency. Keep it up, NRD.

Late in the afternoon, my wife and I went to the Malacca EC office with the faxed letter and with high hopes that we will receive positive news of being able to vote. But unfortunately, we were told that she cannot vote for this coming election!

In her case, she is not a new voter. In fact, she should be admired for going through all the trouble to rectify the problem that was not her fault. She is an innocent victim due to a system glitch.

If they can ‘raise her from the dead’, I do not see why they cannot restore her voting right as stipulated by the constitution. To deny a Malaysian citizen her right to vote is not right.

EC, please do something about this.