The Election Commission announced today that it intends to turn postal voters into "advance voters", in response to allegations of vote-rigging using the postal votes.

election commission chief abdul aziz yusof Speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur, EC chief Abdul Aziz Yusof ( left ) said the amendment to the law required to allow this was being drafted for tabling in the October sitting of Parliament.

"Our intention is to change the status of all police and armed forces personnel and their spouses, who are postal voters, to ‘advance voters', who can vote two or three days prior to polling day," Aziz said.

However, he said, those who are on duty, away from their camps and cannot come for advance voting, can still apply to be postal voters.

"This includes those working at outposts along the borders or stationed for patrol at sea," he said during a briefing on Bersih 2.0's demands.

Compared with postal voting, Aziz said, advance voting was exactly like ordinary voting and open to scrutiny by political party agents.

He said that Bersih 2.0 had first met with the EC in November 2010 and handed over a memorandum with 17 demands, all of which he commented on today.

Notably, Aziz responded on the call to stop gerrymandering, saying that the EC would not review constituency boundaries in the run-up to the general election.

This is despite the constituency boundary being up for review this year, as the last review was done in 2003.

malaysia parliament parlimen building 050907 front Aziz said this was because the timing fell within the same period of a likely general election, with the current term of Parliament ending in April 2013.

He said a boundary review exercise would usually take two years and the EC would not be able to complete the task before Parliament is dissolved, even if snap polls are not called.

"What if the prime minister calls for an election (before April 2013)? What will happen (to the boundary review)?" he asked.

The EC chief also commented on Bersih 2.0's initial demand for voting eligibility age to brought to 18 from 21.

"This is the case for many countries. In Indonesia, if you are married at the age of 16, you too can vote.

"But in Malaysia, the law says 21 so the EC will follow. If the law changes to make it younger or older, we will follow that too," he said.

1,000-odd cases of 'cloned' voters

On one of the coalition's latest list of eight demands - the cleansing of the electoral roll - Aziz said this was done everyday.

He noted that clerical errors do exist, resulting in errors in names and addresses, and that there were lags in updating the system.

"Sometimes, someone's identity card number is wrongly keyed in so when he (or she) checks a month later, he sees he is not registered so he does so again. So, he is then registered twice," Aziz said.

NONE Further, he said, there are 1,000-odd names registered as voters twice, mostly because they are or had previously served with the police or armed forces.

"Previously, these personnel were issued with special police or armed forces identity cards that do not state their civilian identity card numbers.

"So, we cannot cross-check in our system if someone who has registered as a civilian voter re-registers with the police or armed forces identity card," he said.

He said the new police or armed forces identity card now lists the holders civilian identity card number.

However, he admitted, the EC does not have an automatic system to reject someone's registration if he or she had previously done so using a police or armed forces identity card.

But when a complaint is raised, Aziz said, the EC can check if the holder of a MyKad and a police or armed forces identity card is the same person by checking with the Defence Ministry and relevant agencies.

"Sometimes, it is two different people, and even if it's the same person, people don't know that they are registered in two separate entries," he said.

He noted that there has never been a proven case of one individual voting multiple times.

Related stories :

EC chief: More woes with biometrics than indelible ink

DAP reveals 'clone wives' of army voter

'Parties complain roll is dirty but try to register the dead'

Postal votes to be extended to all M'sians overseas

EC deputy chief told to stop flip flopping

'By-election losses spur Pakatan's reform demand'

NGO wants MACC to probe phantom voter 'syndicate'

KJ: Polls panel won't look only into Bersih demands

Study: Utusan gave widest coverage to Bersih

'Social media moves people to choose sides'

Wan Ahmad, remember who pays your salary