Residents like 50- year old Fawziah Abdul in a slum in Borneo Malaysia's Sabah state have been central in helping the country's ruling party<br/> <br />She became a Malaysian citizen 10 years ago after illegally slipping into the country from the Philippines in search of a better life.<br/> <br />She was given a Malaysian ID card and hopes that if she votes for the ruling party again, they will give ID cards to her three children, also.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Malaysia) FORMER FILIPINO, FAWZIAH ABDUL SAYING:<br/> <br />"All thanks to the government. If not were the government we wouldn't have a document."<br/> <br />There have been long running suspicions in Malaysian politics of a government backed program that naturalizes immigrants in exchange for votes.<br/> <br />Indeed, the population of Sabah's population has increased five fold since the 1970's... but the growing presence of Muslim immigrants has fueled complaints of discrimination from Christians who've also been a bedrock of ruling coalition support.<br/> <br />Opposition party members say a government investigation into the allegations of voter fraud are nothing more than a political stunt.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER RULING COALITION NATIONAL FRONT MEMBER, WILFRED BUMBURING SAYING:<br/> <br />"The RCI (Royal Commission of Inquiry) actually is a toothless tiger, don't have any authority to suggest to the government what action to be done because in the process of investigation they will uncover wrong doings, uncover the culprit."<br/> <br />The election, which could be called anytime in the next seven months, is expected to be the closest in history.
