Bersih moots complete overhaul of voter list

Electoral reforms pressure group Bersih has urged Putrajaya to completely overhaul the voter list and institute automatic voter registration.

This was among its long list of suggestions for short and long-term electoral reforms submitted today to Putrajaya's Council of Eminent Persons (CEP).

Bersih said a fresh voter list could be made by simply using information from the National Registration Department and the Agency Link-Up System (Alis).

Upon producing a fresh voter list, Bersih said it still must be subjected to independent auditing for discrepancies such as incomplete addresses.

"Voters with doubtful details needs to be suspended (from the list), notified and requested to have their details corrected with the NRD before being reinstated to the electoral roll," said Bersih.

The group said special attention must be given to the integrity of voter registration efforts in Sabah in view of a royal commission of inquiry's findings on citizenship issues in Sabah.

Once a new voter list is established, said Bersih, the Election Commission and Putrajaya will have to overcome the next hurdle - redrawing the electoral boundaries again.

Constitutional amendments needed?

Bersih said that the boundaries for Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia were gazetted in 2015 and 2018 respectively.

"Therefore, (the boundaries) can only be redelineated again after eight years.

"The EC should explore legal avenues to allow them to redraw the electoral boundaries.

"This includes possible amendments to the Federal Constitution with bi-partisan support, to allow for redelineation before the next general elections," said Bersih.

As for Sabah, Bersih said the EC can initiate the redelineation process again because it was not passed in Parliament.

"Any redelineation must adhere to the principles in the 13th schedule of the Federal Constitution with a maximum deviation of +15% and -33% from the state average for constituency size.

"Article 46 of the Federal Constitution should be amended so the number of seats allocated per state is reflective of the number of voters in those states," it said.  -Mkini