Errors underscore weaknesses in Parliament's vote reporting system

 

PARLIAMENT | Despite having only 222 members, the tabulating of votes in Parliament is susceptible to errors.

Earlier today, the Dewan Rakyat was informed that "Bloc C" leader Shabudin Yahaya (PN-Tasek Gelugor) had erroneously counted Nazri Abdul Aziz (BN-Padang Rengas) as an "aye" during the second bloc vote yesterday, despite the latter being absent at the time.

This error was not picked up in the Hansard, which appeared on Parliament's website this afternoon.

Malaysiakini also noted another error in the Hansard in which Dr Michael Teo (Harapan-Miri) was recorded as being absent during the second bloc vote.

Teo had missed the first vote at 2.30pm and was present during the second vote at 4.30pm.

It was possible that the Hansard team had mistaken Teo for another PKR politician, Dr Lee Boon Chye (Harapan-Gopeng), who, according to several witnesses and Lee's aide, did not participate in the second vote.

An amended copy of the Hansard retrieved this evening had corrected this mistake.

Normally, decisions in Parliament are made through a "voice vote", which automatically means that the House has voted in favour since it is assumed that the ruling parties will have enough votes.

However, if 15 MPs requested for a "belah bahagi" (division vote), more often called "bloc vote", then the speaker would appoint seven "bloc leaders" to record the votes.

Following this, the secretary would then manually tabulate the votes, which can take 10 to 15 minutes and requires a calculator, before the speaker reads out the results.

The public would not know exactly who voted until the results are published in the Hansard, usually the next morning.

It is a complicated process for the press to determine absentees in the Dewan Rakyat because they are restricted to a room in a basement, fondly known as "The Dungeon", and follow proceedings through television.

Only about a dozen news organisations are allowed in Parliament during this session of the Dewan Rakyat. Malaysiakini is not among them. - Mkini