The first reading of the Elections (Amendment) Bill 2002 in Parliament today has started the cogs turning towards some far-reaching changes to the present Elections Act 1958.

Arguably, the most drastic change proposed is the increase in the election deposit made by or on behalf of candidates to a maximum amount of RM20,000 from the current RM5,000, which affects Section 16(2)(d).

The other possible changes include a proposed Section 9A, which provides that after an electoral roll has been certified or re-certified... the electoral role shall be deemed to be final and binding and shall not be questioned or appealed against in, or reviewed, quashed or set aside by, any court.

The existing act does not prescribe an appeal process, but neither does it explicitly bar a recourse to the courts.

It has also been proposed that Section 11 of the act be deleted. The section currently provides a qualifying date from which application may be made for registration on the electoral roll as a parliamentary or state elector.

Shorter preparation period

Another amendment affects Section 12 which provides for writs of election. A writ is issued by the Election Commission to the returning officer of each constituency, and upon receipt of the writ, the returning officer shall proceed to hold an election.

Currently, in relation to a vacancy in a by-election, a writ has to be issued not earlier than 10 days, and not later than 30 days from the date where the vacancy is established by the Election Commission.

But with the amendments, the preparation period will be reduced to not earlier than four days, and not later than 10 days.

With regard to the conduct of elections under Section 13, Article 2 provides that votes should be cast into a sealed ballot box. The amendments intend to reword the phrase to secure ballot box.

The Election Commission under Section 15(2)(f), may make a provision for the payment of compensation, not exceeding RM200 to any person [unreasonably] aggrieved by... objection to the insertion or inclusion of his name on any electoral roll.

However, the new proposed compensation will be raised to RM1,000.

The bill is a result of de facto Law Minister Dr Rais Yatims proposals late last year.

On Nov 6, 2001, the Election Commission had created an outcry by suggesting that the maximum deposit should be increased from RM5,000 to RM10,000.