Law requires EC to supply voter info, says Gerakan man

The Election Commission is legally required to provide copies of the draft voter registry when the document is on public display, said Gerakan Youth deputy chief Andy Yong.

Yong, who is also a lawyer, said Section 15(2)(l) of the Elections Act 1958 had stated that a registrar is required to "supply to any such persons as may be prescribed copies of any electoral roll or part of it, whether free of charge or on payment of such fee as may be prescribed in it".

"Unless amended, clearly under this provision, the EC is obliged to provide the said copies," Yong told Malaysiakini.

The EC, he said, under Section 15 of the Elections Act 1958 may, with the approval of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, make regulations for the registration of electors and for all matters incidental to it.

"Is the directive a new regulation? If yes, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's approval is required," he added.

New practice

Yesterday, the EC confirmed it was no longer providing copies of draft voter list during the display period as it feels that their public display is sufficient to inform voters of their status.

EC secretary Abdul Ghani Salleh said the commission will send a formal letter to all political parties on the decision to no longer supply the draft voter list in both book and compact disc forms from this year onwards.

Citing Regulation 13 of the Election Regulations 2002, Abdul Ghani said the draft voter list has to be displayed at a gazetted public area for 14 days, to show a list of voters who are seeking to be included into the list and those seeking to change their voting areas.

As interested parties can still view the list, the new directive does not restrict access, he said.

Opposition parties had complained that this move would hamper efforts to scrutinise the voter list.

EC's credibility at stake

PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar believed that the EC had changed the practice to "mask an insidious operation by Umno to transfer voters" to give the ruling coalition an unfair advantage.

"The EC has no choice but to come clean and disclose the names of voters that are being added or removed, to the electoral roll, or be condemned as Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's lackey through this latest action," she told Malaysiakini.

EC chairperson Mohd Hashim Abdullah, she pointed out, was facing credibility deficit through legal challenges filed by state governments, political parties and the public.

"Clearly, he further justifies our concerns for the EC leadership's complete replacement with those who command public support and trust," stressed Nurul Izzah.

Logistics nightmare

DAP's Mengkibol state assemblyperson Tan Hong Pin also criticised the move, pointing out that it would make the process of checking the statuses of voters more difficult.

"Normally we do the checking using CDs or supplementary materials provided to us. It is easier for us to do that rather than to go from one display centre to another."

Johor alone, he added, has 200 display centres.

"Even if we want to go to 56 state constituencies, we need to go to 56 centres. It is ridiculous.

"I don't find any good excuse for the EC not to provide us the CDs unless there is some hanky panky behind it," he said.

He added that the new move would hamper efforts by those trying to keep the voter registry clean.

"They will find this difficult. Because after the electoral roll is gazetted, we can't do anything.

"Right now we only have two weeks to do the checking. With CDs provided, it's already quite difficult for us to do. This (new practice) will make the job 100 times more difficult," he added.- Mkini