‘Election reforms still not enough’

NGOs say that despite the reforms the Election Commission has a long way to go to win over people's confidence.

PETALING JAYA: The Election Commission (EC) has made some changes to the electoral process but NGOs say it is not enough.

In the last two months, the EC has been announcing a slew of changes. Many of these changes stem from the interim report of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on electoral reforms tabled in Parliament in November last year.

One example is the much-contested issue of indelible ink which the EC said yesterday will be gazetted into law come Feb 15.

Other changes include early voting for the armed forces personnel. This exercise will include some 200,000 army and police officers.

The move is also seen to address the concerns of many parties who have claimed that postal votes have been abused in favour of the ruling government in the past.

However, many NGOs are not impressed by the EC’s changes. Many of them labelled these changes as cosmetic, saying that the EC had a bigger task of winning back public confidence.

“Why should we give the EC credit? It took them 50 years to even propose these changes.We know that they are doing it because they feel the pressure from the people.

“The issue does not concern these reforms so much as it concerns the EC’s legitimacy itself. People must have faith that the EC is not working for any party and that the government that is elected is done so in a free and fair manner, ” said Wong Piang Yao of Tindak Malaysia.

Lack of confidence

Wong, who had participated in all six of PSC’s public hearings, said that these suggestions were merely “cosmetic changes” and that the EC had to work twice as hard in order to gain public trust.

Referring to the use of indelible ink which was rejected at the eleventh hour in the 2008 election, Wong said that he was “cautious” with the EC’s proposed reforms.

“It has to do with public confidence and the EC has very little at the moment based on past experience,” he added.

He said there needs to be an automatic voter registration system in place, voting for overseas Malaysians and other issues to be addressed to achieve a fairer election process.

The lack of confidence in the EC also persists as there are many concerns regarding the new early voting system involving the armed forces.

The EC announced yesterday that political party observers were now allowed to observe the early voting process which allows for greater transparency.

Commenting on this, Mafrel secretary-general Shaharudin Othman said that it was a positive move by the EC . However, he raised many questions regarding the manner in which these early votes will be handled.

Many unanswered questions

“Having political observers present at camps is not new as they were also allowed to be present previously but there are many unanswered questions.

“Can the observers stay back with the ballot boxes to ensure that there is no hanky-panky? Will the ballots be counted immediately to prevent any doubts?” he asked.

Bersih steering committee member, Wong Chin Huat, raised similar concerns.

“You can have early voting for the armed forces, you may have political observers there, but what happens after the polling stations in the camp close?

“Who stays back to observe? What guarantee is there that the votes will not be tampered with?” he asked.

Responding to this, PAS member in the PSC, Hatta Ramli said that this new process would ensure some transparency.

Explaining the differences, he said that political observers were previously allowed into the voting areas for the armed forces.

“The difference was that the army men were given the ballot paper and they could take the paper out of the camp. After a designated period they would return the form in envelopes. Technically through this way, they could have someone else vote on their behalf,

“But through early voting it is exactly like ordinary voting. The vote is cast immediately.

“Now the political observer can check if each army man has voted, check his IC number and see if he is around the stated age,” he said.

He also added that there will not be a break in the trail of the ballot as political observers are allowed to stay back with the ballot box.

“Now they can stay back with the ballot box to ensure that it is not tampered with.

“The ballots will be counted on election day itself. If early voting takes place three days in advance, then the political party representatives can stay back for three days and follow the ballot box to the counting station on polling day.”

He said that this was conveyed by the EC during its meetings with PSC, adding that it was merely a suggestion made by the EC but voiced his hope that it will be implemented.

When asked why the ballot papers could not be counted immediately, DAP member of PSC Anthony Loke said that there was a consensus that it will not be done at the moment.

“From our discussion there are many pros and cons to it. You don’t want the results to be revealed before election day itself as there may be a psychological effect on the voters or the party that is trailing.

“For now, it will be counted on election day.”