Bersih wants EC to present report to Parliament after all polls

Bersih urged for the Election Commission (EC) to present a report to Parliament after the conclusion of all elections.

The report should include information on how the EC held elections, issues that arose, and how funds were spent, said Bersih senior manager Asraf Sharafi Mohamad Azhar.

He said Bersih also found 324 election offences were committed, mainly cases of political parties and candidates campaigning on polling day, 29 cases of the use of government assets by federal or state governments to campaign, racially charged campaigns and the use of intimidation.

“Bersih made a big observation where several election offences were committed.

“During the six states elections and then the by-elections, we recorded 324 election offences that were committed by all parties, including political parties and also those we were unable to identify,” he said during a virtual press conference this morning.

He presented the report of Bersih’s findings when it monitored the six state elections and by-elections in Kuala Terengganu, Pulai, Simpang Jeram and Kemaman last year.

Bersih had 104 observers who monitored 60 state constituencies across Selangor, Penang, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Terengganu and Kelantan during the elections held there. The Pelangai by-election was monitored online.

The observers monitored the situation on the ground and in voting centres while following news reports and social media activity.

Besides that, Asraf pointed out the lack of guarantee that postal ballots from Malaysians abroad will reach the relevant voting centres in time.

“This is a big issue that has not been solved by the EC,” he said.

He added that during the polls held last year, NGOs brought back almost half of all postal votes - 3,495 out of 7,972. - Mkini