At the end of April 2016, the Election Commission of Malaysia (EC) announced that it had conducted a locality correction exercise which changed the polling station of some registered Malaysian voters. Voters were then allowed to check for changes made to their localities between 6 May and 12 May 2016.
In 2012, the EC once drew a distinction between “correcting boundaries” and “correcting locality on the ground”. They claim that the latter – locality correction – entails putting voters “at the right location on the ground and the correct polling district”, not shifting voters across boundaries.
Some have called the practice of locality correction a “mini de-lineation”. Thus, it is not surprising that previous instances of locality correction have also been controversial. In 2010, the EC changed the polling stations for 13,488 voters for the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seats, allegedly to “avoid congestion” at the polling centres.
However, then-Election Director of KEADILAN, Fuziah Salleh pointed out that as a result of this – approximately one in five of Hulu Selangor’s total voters were moved to polling stations that differ from those that they voted at in the 2008 General Elections. Former chairman of Bersih 2.0 and former President of the Malaysian Bar Coucil, Dato’ Ambiga Sreenavasan then described the process as “unconstitutional”.
While the correction of locality does not involve physical changes to the national or state voting boundaries, its effect on voters may still be negative. In the run-up to the 2010 Hulu Selangor by-elections, 228 voters were transferred out of the area to the Selayang parliamentary constituency under the pretext of locality correction. Voters who were subjected to this reassignment of locality were reported to be confused, with nearly a 100 of them not being able to exercise their right to vote at all.
Again, when a locality correction exercise was carried out in 2012, the EC did not inform voters of amendments made to their localities. As a result of this, an individual’s intention to vote may be nullified when they realise that they cannot vote for showing up at the wrong polling station during polling day. Why should our basic right to vote be at the mercy of the Malaysian authorities?
Additionally, this practice of “locality correction” appears to be a fluke — relocating voters from one constituency to another in the name correcting localities. I condemn the Election Commission for allowing so little time for the conduct of such an important exercise – one that affects the most fundamental civil liberties of our citizens. By failing to uphold its mandate to regulate and conduct elections with integrity, the EC has betrayed the trusts of Malaysian citizens, as it weakens our voting rights time and time again.
The Election Commission’s practice of putting a voter’s rights in jeopardy has precedence. In the run up to the Sarawak state elections this year, the Election Commission had conducted a re-delineation of voting boundaries in Sarawak. KEADILAN’s state vice-chairman See Chee How then filed a judicial review, condemning the lack in detail of the EC’s recommended changes, and the EC’s failure to disseminate news of boundary changes to the Sarawakians. Following that, the Kuching High Court nullified the EC’s recommendations, before the decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal again.
Clearly, the twin by elections of Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar will be marked by EC’s biased machinations – meant to derail Pakatan Harapan’s efforts to realize much needed reforms to salvage the Malaysia’s socio-economy and uplift the plight of the ordinary people.
We ask that the voters remain vigilant and realise their rights to vote against the ruling coalition and in favor of Pakatan Harapan’s candidate in both Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar. We need more than 55 percent of the popular vote – especially with the current EC working in concert with the ruling Barisan Nasional federal government to further deepen the unlevel electoral playing field.
Bebaskan Rakyat, Selamatkan Malaysia!
Nurul Izzah Anwar
Member Of Parliament,Lembah Pantai
Vice President & Election Director, People’s Justice Party(KEADILAN)
Dr. Xavier Jayakumar
State Assemblyman, Sri Andalas
Vice President People’s Justice Party(KEADILAN)
Chua Tian Chang
Member Of Parliament,Batu
Vice President People’s Justice Party(KEADILAN)
