Electoral Reforms in Malaysia: The What, Why and How
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Malaysian civil society has came a long way in bringing the concept of electoral reform and issue to wider public. This co presentation by Tindak Malaysia and Bersih Sydney for Malaysian Progressives Australia discuss of this incredible journey on examining electoral issues and resolutions.
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Electoral Reforms in Malaysia: The What, Why and How
- 1. Electoral Reform in Malaysia : The What, Why & How A discussion led by Tindak Malaysia & Bersih Sydney
- 2. Introduction › What is FPTP? › Difference between FPTP vs Alternative Vote? › Malaysian EC vs AEC › Electoral Issues › What you can do about it?
- 3. FPTP in Malaysia › Winner takes all system › Voters indicate on a ballot the candidate of their choice, and the candidate who receives most votes wins..
- 4. Australian Electoral System › Preferential Voting – Used to form House of Representatives. Voters are to number their preference for every candidate › Proportional (STV) – Used to form the Senate (partly). Voter to indicate preference based Above the line or Below the line
- 5. Electoral System: Malaysia vs Australia MALAYSIA AUSTRALIA › AEC reports to the Parliament › Voter registration and voting (federal, state) is compulsory › Redistribution to ensure electoral quota do not deviate > 10% › Australian ballots are secret (pioneers in the world) › SPR report to PM’s department › Voter registration and voting is optional › Redelineation favours rural areas › Overseas Postal Voting in 2013 had secrecy issues.
- 6. Electoral Issue 1: Gerrymandering/ Malapportionment › Gerrymandering is intentional manipulation of electoral boundaries to favour one party This is current parliamentary & DUN borders of Perak. Beruas and Lumut are fairly safe DAP and PKR seats respectively Proposed 2016 parliamentary boundaries would result very strong DAP seat in Beruas while BN recaptures Lumut. Sitiawan shifted to Beruas.
- 7. Electoral Issue 1: Gerrymandering/ Malapportionment › Malapportionment allows voter count variation among different seats based on rules Wide variation (an abuse of the constitutional requirement) between seats entrench urban (PJ Utara) and rural (Kalabakan, Sabah) divide. Pakatan won the most votes but lost the government due to malapportionment
- 8. Electoral Issue 2: Electoral Roll › Known Issues – Voter Teleportation – Phantom Voters/ Suspicious Voters – Voters being unfairly objected
- 9. Bersih › The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections › 2006: Officially formed, comprising political party leaders, civil society groups, NGOs. › 2010: Coalition relaunched as Bersih 2.0 – an entirely non- partisan civil society movement.
- 10. Bersih’s Demands › Bersih rally (2007) › Clean up of the electoral roll › Use of indelible ink › Abolition of postal voting for military and police personnel › Free and fair access to mass media for all parties › Bersih 2.0 rally (2011) › Clean up of the electoral roll › Reform of postal ballot › Use of indelible ink › Minimum 21 days of campaign period › Free and fair access to mass media for all parties › Strengthening of public institutions › No corruption › No dirty politics
- 11. › Bersih 3.0 rally (2012) › Resignation of the existing Electoral Commission › Implementation of the 8 demands before the GE13 › Observation of GE13 by international observers › Bersih 4.0 rally (2015) › Clean elections › Clean government › The right to dissent › Protect parliamentary democracy › Save the economy › Resignation of PM Najib Bersih’s Demands
- 12. › Bersih 5.0 rally (2016) › Clean elections › Clean government › Strengthening parliamentary democracy › Right to dissent › Empowering Sabah & Sarawak Bersih’s Demands
- 13. What has Bersih achieved?
- 14. What has Bersih achieved? › Awakening of Malaysians across ethnic and political divides to articulate electoral violations. › Mobilization of Malaysians for action. › Increased voter turnout for GE12 & GE13. › Overseas voting granted to overseas Malaysians for GE13. › Indelible ink implemented in GE13. › Bersih People’s Tribunal mounted to investigate the conduct of GE13. › Delineation Action & Research Team (DART) formed to counter malapportionment & gerrymandering.
- 15. What can I do? › Register to vote. › Check enrolment details regularly at pengundi.spr.gov.my › Report electoral irregularities. › Support court cases against redelineation of electoral boundaries. › Support Bersih’s campaigns and help spread awareness. › Volunteer to become PACABA. › Vote on election day. › Vote for parties/ candidates who are for electoral reform.
Editor's Notes
- Preferential Voting for House of Representatives, one rank candidates purely based on rank. A candidate must win more than 50% of the votes. If the first round of counting and candidate A gets more than 50%, A gets elected. If Candidate A does not secure 50%,, candidate (let’s say B) with least votes are excluded and B’s votes are distributed to other candidates based on second preference. This continues on until a candidate with 50%+1 votes are found. Distribution of preferences are done across the nation to calculate the Two Party Preference of two biggest parties in Australia. For Senate, the system is complex and takes more time to be counted. A candidate must a win more than formal vote quota which is unique state by state. This is based on the first preference count in a simplest sense. Let’s say candidate A won more than formal quota. His or her surplus vote value are transferred to other candidates based on second preference. In that process, a second candidate called B may reach the quota and get elected. Any surplus votes of B get transferred to other candidates. If B has not reached the quota, candidate with the least votes are excluded and their preference is distributed to all other candidates. The whole process is completed when all Senate vacancies are completed. The system is proportional as each state elects 6 senators irrespective of the population size of the state.
- The biggest difference between Malaysian EC (SPR) and AEC is who is it accountable too. Although EC commissioners are elected on the advice of Agong and Conference of Rulers, they are appointed to the role so that it inspires public confidence. Being subordinated to the Parliament and having lost in the final say in deciding election boundaries, SPR Malaysia does not have much public confidence in neutrality. AEC has long reputation internationally for being independent and reports on election success and delivery to the Parliament. In Australia, enrolling as a voter is compulsory and so does notifying AEC should you change addresses (if not there would be imposition of fine). In NSW, they introduced Smart Roll which automatically updates a voter address based on government sources when they shifted their locations and automatically enrol you if you are state resident. Enrolment and change of voter details in Malaysia is purely voluntary. Redistribution in done in Australia when the number of parliamentary or state seats change or the deviation from electoral quota exceed 10%. Australia historically had malapportionment problem in 20th century favouring rural but largely removed with the dawn of the new century. While Malaysia has specific mentions of the constitution to guide the redelineation process, it has been open to interpretation and non-compliance to favour certain parties In terms of secrecy, EC comissioners may have been ignorant not to allow their officials to document serial number associated with the ballots written in additional forms in contravention to election regulation. In GE13, advance voters in certain polling centre had their photos taken one by one or police voters registration number being linked or noted down against police list. Australia is the world’s first country to introduce secret ballot (dubbed as Australian ballot). Australia has strict procedures to maintain the secrecy of postal voting.