The Election Commission (EC) is considering bringing criminal charges against disqualified election candidates and political parties after some of them were found to have tampered with membership records and databases, a source said.
According to the source, the poll agency has detected irregularities in databases after the EC last week formally announced the disqualification of scores of candidates from the March 24 general election.
A total of 496 candidates, 107 from the party-list system and 389 from the constituency system, were disqualified to run for House seats. Many failed to comply with party membership requirements.
Dozens of these candidates filed appeals over the weekend against their disqualification with the Supreme Court's Election Cases Division to reclaim their right to contest the polls.
The source said election officials have evidence that some parties tampered with the databases and changed the membership information of their candidates to ensure they were qualified to run for House seats. Party directors could face legal action in cases where they put up tainted candidates.
In one case, a candidate was found to have registered as a member of a party on Jan 22 this year but the politician in question claimed he had been registered as a party member from Nov 22 last year.
The election officials also suspect that some parties colluded in revising the membership records to make the databases appear consistent, according to the source.
It is believed the revised information could be used to defend the candidates' qualifications before the court's election cases division. According to the source, the Office of the EC will submit the findings to election directors.
