LETTER | Govt, EC should consider legal changes to voter registration

LETTER | Tindak Malaysia calls upon the government and Election Commission (EC) to consider the fresh amendments we proposed pertaining to the registration of electors.

As the electoral roll is the foundation of electoral enfranchisement in the country, it is of utmost importance that the Elections (Registration of Electors) Regulations be amended to ensure electoral integrity and inclusion of the Malaysian adult population.

Through Projek Beres, Tindak Malaysia has produced documentation to amend the then ROE of 2002, which was prior to the introduction of Undi18 and automatic voter registration (AVR).

Our then-amended proposal was submitted to the Institutional Reforms Committee, Electoral Reform Committee, EC and Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Human Rights, Election and Institutional Reforms from 2018 to 2023.

When Undi18 and AVR were gazetted in late 2021, the ROE was amended significantly to reflect the new system of electoral roll updates (from quarterly to monthly).

To the credit of EC, it has introduced and maintained progressive policies or conventions such as prioritising voters who are disabled to be channelled to the first or most conveniently located voting channel for polling day purposes since 2019.

This has been similarly applied to elderly voters over the decades.

Moreover, EC has also increased much-needed measures of being vigilant of any suspicious movements, and it has made display of draft supplementary rolls through online methods due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

As a result of the aforementioned changes, Tindak Malaysia has carried out adequate research with the consultation of volunteers within the Tindak Malaysia movement on the type of amendments necessary and required for the ROE in 2024. The major highlights of our proposed amendments are:

1) Categorise special class of absentee voters to consider the electors of Sabah, Sarawak, Labuan, and Peninsular Malaysia, who reside outstation (within Malaysia) as postal voters.

2) Formalise the EC’s policy of channelling the disabled and elderly voters to the easiest voting channel as sub-regulations.

3) Codify the requirements for display of draft supplementary rolls via online methods for voters of a constituency to easily query or raise objections to the entrance of voters in a conducive and transparent manner.

Addressing challenges

Our updated proposal on ROE still retains parts of our previous findings such as proper validation requirements, penalties on any infarctions caused by officers of EC on the electoral roll and ensuring the purchase of electoral roll is priced reasonably.

The current ROE proposal (in Bahasa Melayu) can be accessed via this website - under the special update for ROE.

This proposal has been submitted to the EC and the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Human Rights, Election, and Institutional Reforms. Tindak Malaysia is also updating other relevant electoral law proposals to reflect the current times.

We call upon EC and the government to thoroughly study and consider our proposal to start on a new round of amendments to better address the challenges faced by the electoral system in our country.

As electoral rolls constitute a major foundation for a free and fair election and considering that elections are potentially more common due to the implication of anti-hopping law, it is crucial that the laws governing electoral roll management allows the preservation of electoral integrity and inclusivity.

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