To exorcise phantoms, EC wants voters registered only at residence where they vote

The Election Commission (EC) is studying a proposal to register voters based on their residential address to avoid phantom voter allegations, said its chairman Tan Sri Aziz Mohd Yusof (pic).

He said the current system was open to abuse as voters could register at a location they did not reside in, which had resulted in situations where many voters are registered at a single address.

“However, this proposal needs support from two-thirds of those in Parliament because it requires an amendment to the constitution,” said Abdul Aziz to The Malaysian Insider.

Abdul Aziz said some politicians might be put in a spot if the proposal is accepted.

“If this proposal is carried out, there will be many politicians who will have to vote at their places of residence, unlike now where they can vote wherever their constituency is,” he said.

Previously, Pakatan Rakyat and non-governmental organisations like Bersih 2.0 had constantly claimed the 13th general election results were tainted, as there were phantom voters involved.

EC is also looking into making changes to the current election system in Malaysia which includes the "first past the post" majority system which had been used since the country’s independence.  

“’First past the post’ has its advantages and disadvantages. The down side was that the losers would not have any representatives at all.

“But we could combine the 'first past the post’ and  proportional representation systems, just like in Thailand.

“Whatever it is, there must be an agreement by both parties because any changes in the system requires the amendment of the constitution,” said Abdul Aziz, referring to Barisan Nasional and PR.  

A day after the 13th general election, Bersih 2.0 announced its plan to set up a tribunal to investigate hundreds of reports alleging fraud, which was said to have occurred during the May 5 polls.

The coalition, which consists of more than 80 non-governmental organisations stressed that the BN’s win was tainted with allegations of fraud and that they would not recognise the results until they had investigated the allegations.

BN retained power in the May 5 general election with a reduced majority when it won 133 parliamentary seats.

PR, however, refused to accept defeat and had instead claimed they were the ones who should be in power as they won 51% of the popular vote compared to BN’s 48%.