Postal votes have decreased by 5,000 from 2008

Contrary to allegations of a rapid increase in postal votes, the Election Commission (EC) said that the numbers have reduced by 4,901 by the third quarter of last year.

"According to our records, the number of postal voters has decreased since the 2008 general election," said EC chief Abdul Aziz Yusof (left).

"Then, we had a total of 221,085, but as of September 2010 the number stands at 216,184 - mostly military and police personnel and their spouses, plus a small number of people working overseas," he added.

With talk of snap elections being held by the end this year, political parties have been on a frenzy to register as many voters as possible.

Meanwhile, watchdog groups are on alert to ensure that election laws and mechanisms are reformed and upgraded to prevent irregularities during polls.

Postal voting is regarded as BN's ‘fixed deposit' as most of them come from the armed forces and the police - as well as EC officers.

The Election (Postal Voting) Regulations 2003 require for ballot papers to be posted to these people who then cast their vote.

The ballot paper must be returned to the office of the returning officer by 5pm on polling day.

Abdul Aziz, when asked to elaborate on the claims of a sudden surge in postal votes, said the official records showed no increase.

Abdul Aziz had earlier explained that the 18,493 voters who have "lost the right to vote as civilians" in the third quarter 2010 electoral rolls, are the spouses of security personnel who had applied to be postal voters.

Despite these additions to the postal voters roll, the EC chief maintained that the overall numbers have reduced.

"In Tasek Gelugor, Penang, for example, our records show a decrease. It was 2,136 in 2008 but as per our records in September 2010 the number of postal voters is 1,792," he said.

"Those claiming otherwise have obviously been misled by wrong information... all those who want to be listed as postal voters must personally register with the EC," he added.

Critics have raised the issue of postal voters time and again as they claimed such voters could be deployed in marginal seats to give the ruling BN the edge.

From postal voters to 'advance voters'

However, to counter the problems of a high percentage of spoiled postal votes, Abdul Aziz told Malaysiakini that if the EC succeeds in amending the 1958 Election Act, postal voters will be redefined as 'advance voters'.

Malaysiakini had reported in July last year that the EC also had outlined several proposals to reform several election-related laws such as the Elections Act 1958, Elections Offences Act 1954, Elections (Conduct of Elections) Regulations 1981 and Elections (Postal Voting) Regulations 2003.

Besides the Acts, the EC also rely on the federal constitution and state constitutions in the election process.

The proposed amendments, he added, would likely be presented to the cabinet next month after the commission's legal officers weigh the changes and, once approved, should be implemented in time for the 13th general election due in 2012.

Although Abdul Aziz refused to divulge specific details of the proposed changes, numbering around 30, and expected to be brought to Parliament when the sitting resumes in March, he said:

"Our postal voters system is very difficult and rigid, leading to voters making a lot of technical mistakes.

"There are three envelopes for the voters to fill in and properly seal before returning their votes to the presiding officer. There are envelope A and B and there is the Form 2 - which is used to verify the identity of the voter and on top of that, a signature by a witness is required.

"In countries like Australia, they can withhold the result of the election for several days to give time for postal votes to arrive. We don't have that luxury.

As the instructions were found to be so abstruse, Abdul Aziz said the commission is proposing to allow postal voters to vote several days earlier, similar to the practice in Thailand, in an advanced voting system.

"Even if the dates are filled in the form wrongly, it's a problem and we have to argue with party agents for about 15 to 20 minutes. When the postal votes come in, the party agents are in the voting centre and they have to look through all the procedures and object or agree before putting them in the ballot boxes.

"So we want to make amendments and call them ‘advance voters', they will just vote a few days earlier," he said.

He said that this method is workable as the voters will have to be physically present and party agents will also be at the polling centre to see that all goes well.

The last comprehensive amendments to the election laws were in 2002.

He added that the EC cleared the electoral rolls consistently and is working together with the National Registration Department to remove those who had passed away as well as deal with voters who have changed their addresses.

For Abdul Aziz, those who win in any election are those who truly deserve to win as the EC have ensured the rolls are clean and free of discrepancies.

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