Polls watchdog Bersih 2.0 today cautioned that the new administrative changes to postal voting were not sufficient to guarantee free and fair elections.Earlier this week, the Election Commission announced that postal voting for military, police and diplomatic personnel had been redefined as “advance” voting. Postal voting would only apply to those stationed abroad and on border patrol.
However, Bersih was not convinced that mere cosmetic changes would clean up the dirt associated with postal voting.
Speaking to FMT, the watcdog’s committee member Wong Chin Huat said he was perplexed. “I don’t know what is the real change?”
“What is the difference? Is this just playing with words, so they (EC) are released from the current pressure because postal votes have become such a dirty word,” he said.
He said the EC’s announcement lacked details to substantially address the grouse concerning the transparency of the postal voting process.
Wong also asked if these advance voters would cast their ballots on the spot.
He said one of Bersih’s concerns was that ballot papers were issued some three to four days in advance, and personnel were allowed to take them out of the vicinity without supervision, and this raised suspicion.
“You are given three days to cast your votes but with the system now you can collect your ballot paper and cast it after a few days and this is done without monitoring.
“Postal votes are concentrated in single constituencies and if you cheat, you can make a big difference. That is the problem with the current system,” he said, adding that giving it a new name would not solve the issue.
On another matter, Bersih was also displeased with the EC’s decision to bar polling and counting agents from taking their mobile phones into the polling and counting centres.
According to the watchdog, this was another blow to transparency.
The EC, however, argued that it was to prevent political parties from conveying information, especially unofficial results through the short messaging service (SMS) or Twitter, and confuse the public as seen during the recent Sarawak state polls.
Mafrel welcomes changes
Meanwhile, another polls watcdog, Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections (Mafrel), was more receptive of the new developments.
Mafrel said it welcomed the changes even if they were administrative as it showed that the EC was indeed reviewing the postal voting exercise.
“We have seen many irregularities regarding postal votes over the years and this step shows that the EC is reviewing the matter,” said Mafrel deputy chairman Shaharudin Othman.
“What we want now is for the EC to allow polling agents from various parties to observe the proceedings, including NGOs,” added the former air force personnel, who had cast his ballot five times through postal voting.
Shaharudin also complained that Mafrel’s numerous applications to observe the counting process had always been shot down by the EC, including during last month’s Sarawak election.
On the same note, he urged the EC to provide more details regarding the postal votes as in how would these ballot papers be picked up and where would they be stored to guarantee transparency.
In a related development, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng echoed Bersih’s sentiment that changing the terminology would not guarantee a free and fair election and reiterated his call to allow Malaysians living abroad to vote.
‘Give us a chance’
Contacted later, EC deputy chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar clarified that advance voting meant that personnel would vote exactly like ordinary voters, except that their ballots would be cast two days in advance.
“It’s exactly like ordinary voting, there will be no envelopes, no Form 2, no extra forms, just like ballot papers,” he said, insisting that there would be no room for abuse.
Responding to Wong, he said the ballots would not be taken out of the vicinity as they would be cast on the spot and the ballot boxes would be safeguarded by EC officers under 24-hour police surveillance.
On independent observers, Wan Ahmad said there was no neccessity for this since party representatives were already allowed to observe the polling and counting.
He also urged the public to be more positive about the new changes.
“It’s all very straightforward. These NGOs need to give EC a chance, see how the process is conducted first. Malaysians always have a negative perception about things. It’s very sad. We need to be more mature and not discourage these changes,” he said.-FMT
