10 major irregularities in electoral roll: Electoral Commission’s incompetence or fraud?

The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) and Engage are alarmed by major flaws discovered in the electoral roll, which further question the integrity of the roll and show the Electoral Commission’s failure to ensure a clean and fair election.

The following 10 major irregularities, involving hundreds of thousands of voters nationwide, are discovered based on an analysis of the historical and the latest electoral rolls which will be used in the 2018 general election:

1. Deceased voters were re-registered as new voters (23 cases);
2. Former citizens were re-registered as new voters (48 cases);
3. Voters existed during the 2008 general election, disappeared during the 2013 general election but reappeared in the coming general election without any track record in the supplementary electoral roll (2,015 cases);
4. Voters removed due to inactive records in the National Registration Department system were re-registered as new voters;
5. Voters changed their voting address very frequently (over 1,000 cases);
6. Voters’ year of birth does not match with identity card number (795 cases);
7. Many voters were registered in one address (over 500,000 cases);
8. Up to 15% of voters without address (2,123,973 cases);
9. Retired police officers remain as advance voters (3,525 cases, including former police chiefs Khalid Abu Bakar and Ismail Omar) and double issuance of postal ballots;
10. Same army ID being reused by another person;

These irregularities are nothing new, as the 2011 parliamentary select committee on electoral reform had affirmed the problems and made recommendation for the Electoral Commission to clean up the electoral roll. And yet, we are extremely concerned that these irregularities persist, given the general election is going to be held next week.

The integrity of the electoral roll is one of the most important elements in a clean and fair election. A defective electoral roll will bring into question the legitimacy of the whole election.

Despite the huge number of dubious voters discovered, we believe that these preliminary findings are just the tip of the iceberg.

We strongly demand a complete independent audit of the current electoral roll to ensure that future elections are truly clean and fair. The incoming government should also repeal section 9A of the Elections Act to allow challenges to the roll in court.

We are committed to assist polling agents throughout the country for this general election by providing the list of suspicious voters in their constituency. Polling agents or candidates can contact Bersih 2.0 or Engage for further information

We remind those who attempt to impersonate others at the polls that they shall be liable to conviction of imprisonment for up to two years or to a fine of up to RM5,000 or to both under the Election Offences Act.

We call on all voters to check their voter status on https://pengundi.spr.gov.my

If there are any irregularities found, voters are urged to submit complaints to the Electoral Commission and to Bersih on on https://aduan.pemantau.org/

Lastly, Bersih 2.0 and Engage call upon all legitimate voters to return and cast their votes on 9 May 2018. The effect of cheating, in particular involving phantom voters and the electoral roll, can only be overcome by an overwhelming voter turnout.

Bersih 2.0 steering committee and Engage