Two electoral rolls for S'wak polls?

By Tony Thien

Malaysiakini

2006-05-15 | Are there two different electoral rolls for the Sarawak state elections?

This is the question that independent election watchdog - Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections (Mafrel) 0 chairperson Abdul Malek Hussin (right) has put to the Election Commission (EC).

The reason for this:

The electoral roll used on nomination day (May 9) was officially stated as validated on March 7 and gazetted on March 8, 2006.

But on May 13, the EC secretary and chief registrar Kamaruzaman Mohd Noor announced that the electoral roll to be used for the elections were validated on Mach 16 and updated until March 24 containing 892,537 electors comprising 877,810 ordinary electors and 14,727 postal voters.

"EC must explain as to why such a contradiction occurred. Without a clear explanation, it gives the impression that there are two different sets of electoral rolls," said Abdul Malek.

He said the electoral roll used for polling must be the same as the one used on nomination day.

However, he added: "This is not something that is without any precedent as it happened in the 2004 general election which caused a lot of confusion for voters as to where to vote."

Amended rules

Abdul Malek also touched on the recently-amended election rules, particularly Regulation 11(5) of the Elections (Conduct of Elections) Regulations 1981, as announced by EC chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman on May 10 to apply to the current Sarawak elections.

Unfortunately, Abdul Malek said, the EC chief (left) did not specify the exact wordings of the amendment.

The Mafrel chief described such an amendment as "vague, ambiguous, open-ended and ill-defined."

Without clear and unambiguous wordings, the amendment will be exposed to abuse with wide-ranging implications, he added.

He called on EC to state specifically what it had referred to in order to avoid any ambiguity.

Otherwise, he warned, it will give rise to the impression that the real intention behind the amendment is to provide the commission with sweeping powers.

On the same note, Mafrel welcomed the EC's move to stop writing the voter serial numbers during polling on the counterfoil as it raised doubts on voting secrecy.

However, Abdul Malek said the commission had yet to address some fundamental and core issues.

He said it must address five other main issues before polling day. These are irregularities in the electoral roll, incidences of corrupt practices, excessive election spending, biased media coverage and flaws in postal voting.

The Mafrel chief warned that failure to address these issues would undermine the credibility of the Sarawak elections.

Mafrel also urged the Parliament to review existing election-related laws governing voter registration and the electoral rolls.

It called for a re-registration exercise to address what it termed as "serious contamination and inaccuracy" of the electoral roll.

Mafrel suggested the marking of a voter's finger with indelible ink during voting to deter voter impersonation and multiple voting.

The watchdog said the Anti-Corruption Agency should closely monitor corrupt practices and electoral corruption and act swiftly without fear against such violations.

It also wanted all candidates to make public their campaign spending, including the source of funding and expenditures.

The EC should gazette election spending statements of candidates in the official election report published by the commission after every election, it added.

Media coverage

Mafrel said Parliament should also review existing broadcasting law to ensure voters receive sufficient and balanced information on the candidates and issues.

It said EC should be given powers to act against biased media coverage.

According to Mafrel, postal voting should be abolished and EC should allow members of the armed forces and police to cast their ballots like any ordinary elector "unless a credible and transparent manner of their voting process is in place".

Abdul Malek said Mafrel's recommendations should not be viewed as an attempt to undermine the election authority.

"On the contrary, these recommendations are aimed at fostering greater public confidence in the election process," he added.

Reference Links

• Malaysiakini