MERP: Malaysia Electoral Reform Programme - Launching on Facebook

[pywong]

25th Nov 2012

Please visit Facebook MERP and click "Like". Click the options button next to it and select "Add to Interest List".

The People’s Dreams (Impian Rakyat)

Malaysia Electoral Reform Programme - MERP
(Program Pengubahsuaian Pilihan Raya Malaysia – PPPRM)

Dream no. (No. Impian)

1. Clean up electoral roll (Bersihkan Senarai Undi)
2. Reform Postal voting (Mereformasikan Undi Pos)
3. Use indelible ink (Gunakan Dakwat Kekal)
4. Free and Fair Access to Communications (media) (Akses Komunikasi Bebas & Adil)
5. Minimum campaign period of 28 day (Masa Kempen Minima 28 Hari)
6. Strengthen public institutions (Kukuhkan Institusi Awam)
7. Stop corruption (Hentikan Rasuah)

1. Ombudsman to oversee Government, (Ombudsman untuk menyelia Kerajaan)
2. No legal immunity for Govt servants and EC staff for electoral offences, (Tiada imuniti kepada anggota kerja Kerajaan serta SPR dari kesalahan-kesalahan pilihan raya)
3. MACC to be answerable to Parliament, (SPRM adalah bawah tanggungjawab kepada Parlimen)
4. Petronas to be answerable to Parliament, (Petronas adalah bawah tanggungjawab kepada Parlimen)
5. IPCMC to oversee the Police, (Pengawasan Polis oleh IPCMC)
6. Reform the Judiciary. (Merefomasikan system Perhakiman)

1. Stop dirty politics (Hentikan Politik Kotor)
2. Remove current EC members, (Menengeluarkan ahli-ahli SPR yang sedia ada)
3. International Observers, (Pemantau dari Antarabangsa)
4. Government to go full term until 27^th Apr 2013 to fulfil our dreams, (Pentadbiran kerajaan hanyalah sampai 27hb Apr 2013 untuk mencapai impian rakyat)
5. Call in United Nations to manage the next General Elections – GE13, (Menjemputkan Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu untuk menguruskan Pilihanraya Agung - GE13)
6. Increase salaries of MPs to RM 20,000 and ADUNs to RM 15,000, (Menaikkan gaji ahli parlimen untuk RM 20,000 dan ADUN RM 15,000)
7. Federal Territories entitled to set up a State with ADUNs, (Wilayah Persekutuan berhak untuk menubuhkan Negeri dibawah ADUN)
8. Government to fund political parties and independent candidates, (Kerajaan membiayai parti-parti politik dan calon-calon bebas)
9. Fair and equal access of funding to all MPs and ADUNs, (Akses yang adil dan saksama pembiayaan kepada semua Ahli Parlimen dan ADUN)

When we achieve all the 16 Dreams, we can say that we have come of age as a Democracy. (Apabila kita mencapai kesemua 16 Impian, maka kita boleh menggaku yang kita telah cukup matang dalam perlaksanaan system Demokrasi.)

Footnote: The yellow-highlighted items are added after drafting the proposed amendments to the Federal Constitution, Election Laws and Regulations. They will be incorporated later.

Ombudsman: Wiki definition: An ombudsman (conventional English plural: ombudsmen) is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between either the state (or elements of it) or an organization, and some internal or external constituency, while representing not only but mostly the broad scope of constituent interests. (Pegawai yang dilantik untuk menyelidik rungutan orang ramai tentang salah tadbir pihak berkuasa)

[pywong]

Soon Yee Yap

https://www.facebook.com/groups/bersihkan.malaysia/




Fellow NGOs and Friends,

BERSIH 2.0 has been very successful in mobilizing the people to voice their dissatisfaction with the current electoral system and have demonstrated that Malaysians can be united and peaceful in their protests. However, we feel that it is extremely important that we move beyond the BERSIH 2.0 Eight Demands to maintain the pressure on the Govt to reform the electoral system. Otherwise, the movement will lose momentum and all the protests will be in vain. Tindak Malaysia is acutely aware of this. We, together with BERSIH 2.0, submitted on 21st March 2012 80 proposals on electoral reform. Unfortunately, the PSC did not take any of them into serious consideration. So-called reforms such as indelible ink and Advance Voting appear designed not to work. We have always maintained that to achieve reform, we have to propose changes to the laws and Regulations directly instead of leaving it to the EC or the AG's chambers.

In line w
ith this philosophy, we have spent more than 1 year poring through the Federal Constitution, the Election Laws and Regulations. From this, we have come up with more than 200 amendments to the legislation to express our ideas on what need to be changed. These proposals are summarized in the attached files. We will like to invite you and your friends (can be individuals or organizations) to jointly hold a press conference to launch this document "Malaysia Electoral Reform Programme" before we present it to all the political parties for their endorsement and action.

The People's Dreams.ver7.011212

Malaysia Electoral Reform Programme Amendment List ver4.051212

MALAYSIA ELECTORAL REFORM PROGRAMME.(ECC)ver6.Outline.271112

We will be officially launching this during a press conference on 20th Dec in Petaling Jaya and hope you can join us as part of the launching team. We look forward to your participation and agreement to work together on this MERP project. Please pass the message to your friends and fellow NGOs to see if they are interested to work with us.

Regards,
PYWong
Tindak Malaysia

[pywong]

Update:
Malaysia Electoral Reform Programme Amendment List ver3


https://www.facebook.com/groups/bers...4385214976974/

By Soon Yee Yap in Bersihkan Malaysia (Perth) (Files) · Edit Doc
No Description
0 Federal Constitution

1 Article 45 – Composition of Senate: 2 elected from each state and combined Federal Territories of KL, Labuan & Putrajaya, 42 elected from the Federation using results of General Election for House of Representatives (proportional representation in the Senate). 5 year term to coincide with Parliament. Max 2 Terms.

2 Article 46 – Increase no. of MPs from 222 to 230. To reduce malapportionment, the House of Representatives for Peninsular Malaysia is restructured to reflect voter population of GE 12. A more accurate method should be to use the last census of the population. Set at 10 % plus or minus of the electoral quota for Peninsular Malaysia. For Sabah & Sarawak, the seat size is set at plus or minus 15% of the electoral quota for each state to reflect its larger size and poorer communication facilities. Sabah 26 seats, Sarawak 38 seats to maintain the same ratio determined in 1963. Common argument of MP not being able to serve a geographically large is false as the service required is more of infrastructure, which is provided by the Division Engineer. Final target of 5% by 1st Jan 2020 with corresponding improvement in communications infrastructure for Sabah & Sarawak. There is provision for the EC to amend the seats according to pre-defined rules and subject to 2 rounds of review by Parliament, can eventually make the amendments independently of Parliament.

3 Article 48 – Delete 48 (1)(d) on election return and references to it in 48 (3). No time bar for MP who resign from seeking re-election.

4 Article 49 – Provisions against double memberships: A person cannot hold more than one position of MP, Senator or State Assemblyman.

5 Article 51 – Resign from party requires resignation from the House or Senate.

6 Article 54 – casual vacancies – No re-election within 1 year of date of mandatory Parliament dissolution. Determination of casual vacancy by Senate President or Speaker of the House.

7 Article 54A – Casual vacancies for local councils and presidents/mayors.

8 Article 55 – Parliament fixed term of 5 years. Speaker shall call for vote of confidence if demanded by Opposition Leader.

9 Article 55A - Care-taker Govt consisting of Interim PM agreed upon by ex-PM and ex-Opposition Leader and appointed by Agong. Interim PM can appoint up to 5 members to his cabinet. None of them can take part in the elections. Code of conduct.

10 Article 56 – Senate President or Deputy President shall cease to hold office on dissolution of Parliament or expiry of his term of appointment.

11 Article 59 – seat become vacant if member did not take seat within 6 months of appointment.

12 Article 113 – EC to conduct elections for Senate and Local Councils plus presidents and mayors. Redelimitation to be mandatory every 10 years to reflect demographic change. No interim redelimitation permitted arising from change in no. of MPs and ADUNs due to change under Article 46.

13 Article 113A – Registration and regulation of political parties and political organization.

14 Article 114 –. Agong shall appoint EC after consultation with Conference of Rulers, PM and Opposition Leader. At least 2 members shall be from Sabah and Sarawak. EC members must enjoy confidence of all political parties and communities, and be subjected to public hearing prior to appointment. Cannot be previous holders of political office but may have own business or income from outside the EC provided there is no conflict of interest. Must be able to operate independently to conduct free and fair elections. Agong may extend retirement age to 70.

15 Article 115 – EC shall employ own staff. For delineation exercise, in addition to using Govt assistance, may draw from assistance from private sector if they so desire.

16 Article 115A – Election Ombudsman: Oversee EC. 3 members.

17 Article 115B – Constitution of Election Ombudsman Office: Similar to EC.

18 Article 115C - Assistance to Election Ombudsman Office: Similar to EC.

19 Article 116 – Restructure MP distribution among states of P. Malaysia and Federal Territories to reduce voter disparity to not more than 10%. Similarly, seat size within Sabah and Sarawak are to be redrawn to equalize the electoral population within 15% plus or minus of electoral quota. Similarly for Legislative Assembly Constituencies. This limit shall be reduced to 5% for all states by 1/1/2020. Govt to build communication infrastructure to reach 80% of the population by 1/1/20 and monitored by the EC.

20 Article 118A Method of questioning election petition of no return – Deleted

21 Article 119 – Automatic voter registration. Reduce age of voter to 18 by 1/1/2017. Valid postal address. Biometric Voter Verification Identity Card.

22 Article 119 (1A) EC empowered to verify citizen status independently of NRD.

23 Article 119 (1B) All govt depts., financial institutions and employers to provide assistance to the EC.

24 Article 119 (2) – Constituency of a member of the armed forces or the police shall be address of MyKad prior to joining of service.

25 Article 160: Opposition Leader, political organisation and political party defined.

26 Seventh Schedule: Appointment or Election of Senators Parts I and II.

27 Thirteenth Schedule to restrict breaking up of local communities. EC proposal can only pass if half the Govt MPs and half the Opposition MPs approve. After review, the EC can bypass Parliament and require the PM to submit their proposals directly to the Agong.

28 Fourteenth Schedule – Care-taker govt Parts I and II.

1 Elections Act

29 S2 Interpretation – Add assisted voter, Election Judge. technical adviser to provide legal and operational advice during the campaign to strengthen the campaign team.

30 S3 Appointment of officers – Returning Officers and Enforcement Officers to come from the public or civil society and not from Govt or political parties. Specify appointment procedures. Provide for more enforcement teams as required by the candidates. If not enough officers, the EC can appoint from the public service.

31 Section 3A Secretary, Deputy Secretary and Asst Secretaries - opinions required whether we need to disallow Govt servants.

32 S7 Polling Districts and polling centres – Restrict to publicly-accessible places. If EC choose military or police camps, they have to ensure that access is public. Control timing of division of constituency.

33 S8 Appointment of officers – Chief Registrar and lower grades, Adjudicating Officer to be outside Govt service, political parties or GLCs. Reflect ethnic composition of the state in which they operate. Need to consider whether this should be taken out of the EC’s duties and under another independent body as this is the source of a lot of problems.

34 S9A Certified or re-certified electoral roll shall be deemed to be final – Have to allow for provision to challenge as the electoral rolls are so poorly prepared with so many suspicious electors.

35 S13 Election of candidates – add assisted voter.

36 S14 Use of schools,… - restrict use of military or police camps unless it is publicly-accessible.

37 S15 (2)(l) Power to make regulations.. – charge nominal fee for electoral roll and CD to encourage public to scrutinize the rolls and spot errors.

38 S16 (p) Code of ethics

39 S17 Regulations to be laid before the Dewan Rakyat – EC can over-ride Dewan Rakyat.

2 Election Offences Act

40 S2 Interpretation – Definitions added for assistant overseas agent, counting agent, overseas agent, overseas presiding officer, polling agent, polling district, political party’s representative, technical adviser.

41 S3 Offences by any person – Expand to cover malallocation of electors in the electoral roll, voter refuse to mark with indelible ink after voting or don’t comply with indelible ink procedures, to cater for post-voting ink marking. To mandate free access to all candidates to estates, private roads and FELDA schemes, compel all employers to provide information on any citizen or employee relating to address, employment and citizenship, all including MSM to comply with enforcement team.

42 S4 Offences by election officers – provide for immediate sanction by EC.

43 S5 Maintenance of secrecy at elections – Add technical adviser. Allow for joint inspection by the KTM and PA of ballot papers issued by the RO to the KTM one day before polling. Randomization required. Reports on hourly turnout (Form 720) to be made available to candidate agents.

44 S6 Offences against this part – action or report to be made by the Public Prosecutor within 8 weeks of election results.

45 S9 (3) – No transfer of employee during elections. Note: (1) can be interpreted to cover refusal to randomize.

46 S11 Punishment and incapacities for corrupt practice - Public Prosecutor required to provide a report of prosecution within 8 weeks to hold them accountable.

47 S12 Nomination of election agent and overseas agent – Add overseas agent to assist the candidate in the overseas postal polling centre. Nomination within 5 days of Gazette. Same as PV R8A (3).

48 S13 Disqualification for appointment as election, etc – add overseas agent & assistant overseas agent.

49 S14 Making of appointments and contracts through election agent – Add technical adviser.

50 S15A. Prohibition of certain expenses during campaign period - Delete requirement to submit expense return as there is no limit to campaign expense.

51 S16 Period for sending in claims and making payments for election expenses - Delete requirement to submit expense return as there is no limit to campaign expense.

52 S19 Expenses in excess of maximum to be illegal practice - [Deleted]

53 S20 Certain Expenditure to be illegal practice – amend to empower EC to hire vehicles and secure fuel for equal distribution to all candidates. All parties hire vehicles so don’t make it illegal. Require hiring through EC.

54 S20A Transportation for conveyance of voters – Make it the responsibility of EC to procure fuel, vehicles and vessels for all candidates. Critical in Sabah & Sarawak.

55 S21 Certain employment to be illegal – allow employment of overseas agents and overseas assistant agents.

56 S24B Election campaign and limitation thereof – No police permit required other than consultation to avoid clash between rival candidates.

57 S25A Employers requested to allow employees to serve during an election campaign.

58 S26 Limitation on polling day – remove restrictions on rental of premises, citizen check on phantom voters.

59 S26A – Booth to be provided by Election Commission – make it mandatory. MyKad reader to check all electors. Those without ID that is readable, only Temporary IC is allowable and the elector have to submit passport photos to be attached to Form 11 for KTM and all candidates. This should be quite a rare event as NRD centres can issue replacement MyKad within 2 hours except those not in the State capital. More booth observers together with technical adviser and proper equipment allowed. Fill Form 10 for OKU electors here before proceeding to the polling station.

60 S27 Punishment for conviction for illegal practice – Report by Public Prosecutor to EC within 8 weeks on legal action taken.

61 S27B Establishment of enforcement team – Allow for more than one team to reflect geographical size of constituency.

62 S27E – Functions of enforcement team – MSM to be regulated here.

63 S27F Appointment of the representatives of the political party – expanded to cater for multiple enforcement teams in large geographical areas, especially Sabah & Sarawak.

64 S40 Votes to be struck off at a scrutiny – Cannot be done if the vote is secret.

65 S41 Rejection of ballot paper by RO or KTM is final – delete. not healthy to give a RO or KTM so much power.

66 Schedules – Delete Forms B & C on expenses report.

67 Second Schedule – 14 (2) Return of money so deposited: Correct spelling.

3 Election Commission Act

68 S3 Provision against double salary – Delete in line with FC Article 114 (4A) to enable recruitment of men of independent means to reduce dependency on the state.

69 S5 Certain communications to be privileged – Delete as it can be used to suppress incriminating evidence against a defendant from a witness.

70 S6 Protection of members from lawful act only. Not blanket protection.

71 S11 Consent of Public Prosecutor to prosecutions – Set 8 weeks dateline for PP to make progress report on prosecution.

72 R12 Schedule to be amended by regulations – paragraph 1. Increase salary of EC Chairman and Deputy Chairman but only for new batch, not current batch, to reflect their responsibility and the importance of their posts. Paragraph 11. Air travel – business class.

4 Elections (Conduct of Elections) Regulations

73 R2 Interpretation – advance polling centre, advance polling day, advance polling station, date for advance voting (which must take into account the durability of the indelible ink so that advance voters are prevented from voting a second time on polling day for ordinary voters), assistant overseas agent, assisted voter, ballot box, consular officer, election observer, Kad OKU, main tally centre, overseas agent, overseas presiding officer, overseas polling centre (any Malaysian embassy/High Commission appointed by the Election Commission), overseas polling day, overseas postal ballot paper, overseas postal voter, overseas voter, Peninsular Malaysia, perforation, political party’s representative, random issue, technical adviser. Proposal for EC to register political party under the Article 113 of Federal Constitution.

74 R3 Writ and notice of election – campaign period min 28 days, advance polling day 2 days before polling day, nomination period 3 days. 48 hours cooling off period. A cooling-off period is proposed to allow the electorate a quiet period to consider the election issues before making their decisions. [***]

75 R4 Nomination papers – papers to be signed by candidate, proposer, seconder & witness.

76 R5 Deposit by candidate – reduce to RM 5k for Parliament and RM 2k for DUN seat.

77 R6 Proceedings on nomination day – 3-day nomination period.

78 R7 Objection to nomination papers – Reinstate objection period.

79 R8 Persons entitled to be present at nomination – include technical adviser.

80 R10 Uncontested elections – objections to be allowed.

81 R11 Contested elections - objections to be allowed, set advance polling 2 days before polling, polling hours 8 - 12 hours (to allow voters located in rural areas sufficient time to travel to polling station to vote). Also polling stations should not close earlier than the prescribed period. All voters must be allowed the opportunity to attend at the polling station at any time during the prescribed period of polling. Closing the polling station early will deprive other voters of the opportunity and their right to vote. Min campaign period 28 days to cater for postal vote.

82 R12 Appointment of presiding officers and deputies – at least half from the public to ensure neutrality

83 R12A Appointment of other officers and staff – up to half from the public to ensure neutrality

84 R13 Facilities to be provided at polling centre and station – guide for marking ballot papers to be posted at ballot marking counter (to help minimise incidents of rejected votes and time spent examining ballot papers during counting) and re-orientate ballot marking counter, revised polling station layout (sixth schedule), permit agents to use cameras to record/capture any electoral violations. The purpose of the proposed polling station layout is to enable polling agents to scrutinise the polling process more effectively (e.g., to detect attempts to insert unauthorised/foreign ballot papers into the ballot box and to examine the fingers of the voter for transparent coating that will prevent the indelible ink from staining the finger).

85 R14 Right of registered elector to vote – onus on presiding officer to vet voter.

86 R14A Authoritative text of electoral rolls – specify the version of electoral roll to be used. Supplementary roll for candidate’s campaign team. Advance voters roll, overseas postal voters roll and postal voters roll. The roll to be used must have information on all categories of voters (ordinary, advance, postal and overseas) so that voters do not abuse the polling system by casting their vote under more than 1 category). This serves as an additional safeguard to the indelible ink. The electoral roll should also be furnished to election candidates as early as possible as the rolls would have already been gazetted much earlier. Election candidates should have an opportunity to review the electoral rolls in advance of polling being conducted to determine whether there are any inconsistencies in the information reflected in the rolls (e.g., same name appearing on more than 1 list)

87 R15. Admittance to polling station – delete last paragraph of R15 (1).

88 R18. Ballot boxes – specify opaque walls to preserve secrecy and eliminate time taken to unfold ballot papers during counting as this results in additional time costs incurred by the EC on polling day. This proposal will result in significant cost-savings. Current practice of folding twice involves 150 million folding, which is 40,000 man-hours. Folding increases the workload without any benefit in maintenance of secrecy. Previous change to transparent box created the need to fold ballot paper which is a waste of time and give rise to potential of ink smudges. Folding causes the ballot paper to bulk up, requiring a clerk to use a ruler to compress the ballot papers in the ballot boxes. That may entail an additional cost of up to RM 7 million.

89 R18A Election Materials – check 1 day before advance polling and 1 day before polling day and simplified procedures on morning before polling. Issue Form 13A to candidate, election agent or polling agent.

90 R19 Manner of voting – Only MyKad, Military MyKad or Police MyKad to be accepted as proof of identity as these are the only documents accepted by EC when registering as a voter. The internal guidelines issued by the EC specify that other types of identification documents can be furnished and this should not be permitted as voters can abuse the identification process. The EC officers should not be burdened or distracted from their duties by spending time verifying alternative identification documents. Kad OKU for assisted voter shall also be accepted over and above the MyKad. The proposal for Kad OKU to be accepted is a request from OKU special interest groups to cater to voters who are handicapped, blind or otherwise incapacitated. Temporary ID from JPN: voter required to submit passport photo, detail procedures for checking for indelible ink under ample light, marking of ink after voting, immerse 1 min, expose 1 min for ink to take effect, randomization of pre-perforated/stamped ballot paper, assisted voter accompanied by a relative (to prevent abuse of the process). Postal voters in Malaysia are required to mark their left forefinger with indelible ink either at the Returning Officer’s office or at the polling centre where they are stationed, before 8am on polling day. Introduced 4th & 5th schedule for indelible ink. Procedure for ramdomisation of ballot papers introduced. This is a safeguard to support/enhance/preserve secrecy of votes.

91 R19A Non-compliance with the manner of voting – voter who refuse to show left forefinger or left forefinger marked with indelible ink shall not be issued with a ballot paper. Voter whose left forefinger is unmarked but name crossed out, will not be issued with a ballot paper and the presiding officer shall fill up Form 10A explaining why (In the future, such a voter should be issued a challenged ballot kept in a separate envelope that can be considered for marginal wins and the voter cleared by an election judge). Voter who refuse to allow true identity to be verified. Current EC procedures allow a voter covered with a purdah to vote without revealing the face. This makes the verification exercise more cumbersome for EC officers and affects/distracts the EC officer from discharging his duties effectively. It is the onus on a voter to prove his identity, not the other way round.

92 R20 Declaration by voter – Voter with Temporary I/C from NRD is required to fill Form 11 and submit sufficient passport photos for the presiding officer and all candidate agents present. Identity of voter must be verifiable. All voters in Malaysia except for postal voters are required to have their thumb-print verified at the booth before entry to the polling centre. This is a procedural safeguard to prevent abuse.

93 R23 Closing of poll – notice on doorway to advise that at time of poll closing, only voter who is issued a ballot paper will be allowed to complete his voting.

94 R23A Place of counting of votes – if EC relocate counting station out of the polling station, it is their responsibility to provide transport to the candidates or his agents. The ballot boxes must be continuously monitored by candidates or their agents at all times. Ten days notice of change shall be given to allow candidates and their agents sufficient time to make the necessary arrangements. The practicality of this aspect of the polling process is especially relevant/significant for polling stations located in Sabah and Sarawak or other rural areas.

95 R24 Procedure on close of poll – Refer to 7th Schedule, seal & sign ballot box seals, complete Form 13B with copies for candidate/agents, examine ballot paper counterfoil and electoral rolls of presiding officer, assistants and all polling agents, seal unused and spoilt ballots, presiding officer and his assistant’s electoral rolls in envelop and sign, procedure for relocating of counting station.

96 R25 Counting of votes by presiding officer – remove authority of presiding officer to bar counting agent, election observers allowed, EC members not allowed to interfere in proceedings, procedures require validation of serial nos with Form 13B, perforation or ink stamp with Form 13A and ballot marking to follow 2nd Schedule exactly, mandatory to issue Form 14 to counting agents on pain of legal sanction (Proposal by EC to have unique stamps for all the polling stations is unnecessary. Also having half a stamp on the ballot paper and half on the counterfoil is not helpful for recognition of the stamp.) No recording of serial no. during counting as this will be in contravention of the secrecy provisions. Apply to all inside the polling station. Secrecy of votes must be preserved. Minimum discretionary powers for presiding officer. Envelopes identified to avoid confusion. 4% rule for recount in the polling station deleted. Statistically meaningless.

97 R25A Safe custody of election documents in accordance with the 7th Schedule – identify packets for election materials. Candidates, election agents, polling agent or counting agent can accompany presiding officer.

98 R25B Postponement or adjournment of counting of votes – replace Form 13 with Forms 13A and 13B.

99 R25C postal ballot papers to be packed and all packets labelled as per PV 2nd Schedule.

100 R25CC Counting of votes of overseas postal voters at any Malaysian High Commission or embassy – new procedure for counting. Counting at 9am local time on the day that coincides with polling day in Malaysia. Securing of election materials to follow PV 2nd Schedule.

101 R25D Proceedings of returning officer after return of ballot boxes, and official addition of votes – amend to cater for overseas postal voting and advance voting, election observers, new reporting form for results, returning officer to provide tally of Forms 14, 15, 15A and 16, legal sanction against returning officer for non-compliance.

102 R25E Disposal of ballot papers, etc – tighten procedures with all materials to be returned to the State Elections Officer as the returning officers are not government servants, with legal sanction against returning officer for non-compliance. All ballot papers, Forms and electoral rolls to be destroyed at the end of the holding period, with no discretionary power given to the EC not to do so.

103 R26 Court order to copy or inspect election documents – delete reference to Third Schedule, election materials to be preserved pending resolution of election petition.

104 R26A amend to state paragraph 4 of regulation 25E.

105 R27A. Persons required to vote as advance voter – amend list of people who qualify to exclude spouses of military or police, add EC staff, candidates, candidate agents, Sabahans, Sarawakians or P M’sians outside their respective State or territory (Sabah, Sarawak and P Msia are treated as separate territories for definition of advance voting), those who are liable for duty on both advance and normal polling day to be granted postal voting. Add in EOA – no employer shall transfer his employee during the period between dissolution of Parliament and polling day (Done – EOA 9(3)). Military and police personnel – for purpose of advance voting, they vote at their last civilian address. Spouse of military and police personnel should not have special privileges above normal voters. If they wish to vote in the constituency where the camp is located, they can change their MyKAd address and voter address just like any other voter.

106 R27AA Polling for Advance Voters – polling stations to be sited in publicly-accessible locations. If the EC insist on police or military camps, these should be made publicly accessible and should include civilian voters to mix up the voters in the polling centre.

107 R27B – Counting for Advance Polling to be held in the Advance Polling Centre and counting to commence at 9am 1 day before polling day. Counting should take place at the same polling station and unnecessary shifting/transporting of ballot boxes before counting process should be avoided.

108 R31. Punishment for making false declaration – correct printing error. Amend R19(10) to R19(11).

109 Form 1 to include overseas polling day.

110 Form 2 to include overseas polling day.

111 Form 2A to include overseas polling day.

112 Form 3 (4) – amend evening to forenoon. deposit five thousand/two thousand.

113 Form 8 – Situation of Polling Centre (Overseas Voting). 48 hours cooling off period.

114 Form 10 – amend to cater for “assisted voter”.

115 Form 10A – amend to exclude voters who refuse to show left forefinger, refuse to allow marking with indelible ink, finger unmarked by indelible ink but name marked.

116 Form 13 – deleted. Replaced by Forms 13A and 13B.

117 Form 14 – add subregulation 25(3) at row C. Mandatory for presiding officer to issue to all candidates.

118 Form 15 - STATEMENT OF THE POLL AFTER COUNTING THE POSTAL BALLOT PAPERS

119 Form 15A Statement of the poll after counting the overseas postal ballot papers.

120 Second Schedule – tighten procedures for voting, cartoon of valid paper added.

121 Third Schedule deleted.

122 Fourth Schedule – procurement of indelible ink – added.

123 Fifth Schedule – use of indelible ink to identify double-voting.

124 Sixth Schedule – proposed polling station layout to facilitate work of polling agent.

125 Seventh Schedule – Safe custody of election documents

5 Registration of Electors

126 R2 Interpretation – absent voter to exclude spouse of military personnel, govt servants overseas and spouse, full-time students overseas and spouse. To include non-resident electors residing overseas, Sabahans residing outside Sabah, Sarawakians residing outside Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysians outside P Msia (Sabah, Sarawak and P Msia are treated as separate territories for definition of advance voting). Assisted voter.

127 R5 Entitlement to vote – Automatic voter registration, fresh registration exercise for existing voters, simplify procedures for registration, assisted voter.

128 R6 Order of names – Absent voters can be advance, overseas postal voters or postal voters, clerical errors to be corrected subject to scrutiny and not at EC’s discretion.

129 R9 Electoral roll for the purpose of general election or by-election – For GE or by-election, the electoral roll is fixed as the last certified roll before Parliament or state assembly dissolution.

130 R10 The principal electoral roll – electoral rolls shall have full addresses, advance, postal and absent voters’ names to be marked with “PP” on an extra column, Registrar to take pro-active approach to verify voters’ eligibility..

131 R12 Application for transfer of registration – allow for registration online, any qualified elector shall be registered upon notifying the Registrar, elector can shift locality within same State constituency or Parliament constituency for FT without change of IC address or 6-mth residency.

132 R13 Revision of electoral roll – publish supplementary roll every 3 months and publish notice in 2 national newspapers, open for 30 days inspection, inform every elector by post if they have been shifted to another polling centre.

133 R14 Claims during revision of supplementary electoral roll – 30 days to object.

134 R15 Objections during revision of supplementary electoral roll – objections can be raised by any elector anywhere within 30 days of publication of supplementary roll, without limit to number of persons objected against but once only against the same person. No objection fee required.

135 R17 Public Inquiry – Registrar to compensate elector whose registration area was changed without his approval and guilty party to be subjected to prosecution.

136 R20 Appeal – Decision of Adjudicating Officer is final but can be challenged in court.

137 R21 Recovery of sums awarded – added R17.

138 R25 Chief Registrar may restore name in the electoral roll – tighten procedures to prevent abuse by Registrar, all changes subject to notice in supplementary roll.

139 R27 Free copies of principal electoral roll and supplementary electoral roll – Registrar required to supply free copies to candidate or election agent.

140 R28 Sale of principal electoral roll and supplementary electoral roll – to any elector at five cents per page or 5 ringgit per CD.

141 Form A modified to incorporate home address of armed forces and police, and to provide for assisted voter.

6 Postal Voting

142 Contents amended.

143 R2 Interpretation – definition of Form 2, absent voter (retain original definition), agent (The EA can appoint a Ketua PACAPOS to represent him to liaise with RO), ballot box, consular officer, election observer, envelope A (Remove provision to record ballot paper serial no. as it violates S5 of EOA), overseas agent, assistant overseas agent, overseas ballot paper, overseas polling centre (Any embassy), overseas polling day (1 day before polling day to allow counting on polling day to provide sufficient time for reporting to RO.), overseas postal voter, overseas presiding officer, political party’s representative, place outside Malaysia, political party (New article added to empower EC to register political parties), postal polling day.

144 R3 Persons entitled to vote as postal voters – delete paragraph 1(a)(Covered under R3A) referring to overseas govt servants + spouse, overseas student + spouse, restrict to those military & police on duty on both advance polling and normal polling day, EC officers, candidate, election agent, candidate agent, overseas agent, political party’s representative (For enforcement team), EC member, long-term nursing home or hospital inmate. All required to mark with indelible ink under Election Offences Act, except for long-term nursing home or hospital inmate.

145 R3A Persons entitled to vote as overseas postal voters – all Malaysian electors resident overseas.

146 R5 Persons entitled to be present at issue of postal ballot papers and opening of postal voters' ballot boxes – introduce election observers.

147 R6 Notice of issue of postal ballot papers – 24 hours.

148 R7 Marking of postal ballot papers – serial no. of ballot paper is not recorded on Form 2 or envelope A in compliance with Section 5 of Election Offences Act. Random issue of ballot papers (Major amendment for randomization. New Form SPR 754A equivalent to Form 13A. Remove requirement to record ballot serial no. on Form 2 and enveloe A as it violates S5 EOA.)

149 R7A Marking of overseas postal ballot papers – similar to R7 (New Regulation).

150 R8 Documents to be sent to postal voters – include certification of postal voter.

151 R8A Overseas postal ballot papers (The origin of despatch is Putrajay who shall dispatch the ballots by diplomatic courier to the consular officer via the Foreign Ministry. Illustrate with infographics) – procedure (To include sealing. Alternative method is to appoint Putrajaya as the collecting and counting point. In that case, local postal ballots also go there) for despatch of postal ballot papers to consular officer by EC, from consular officer to voter and back, from consular officer to overseas presiding officer by 5pm on overseas polling day (1 day before polling day), there to be monitored by overseas agents.

152 R9A Despatch of overseas postal ballot papers – by diplomatic courier to consular officer, inform overseas agent, post direct to overseas postal voter.

153 R10 Provision of postal voters’ ballot box – election observers introduced and facilities for agents and election observers to guard the ballot box.

154 R10A Provision of overseas postal voters’ ballot box or sack – define sack, procedure for management of ballot box. Added election observer.

155 R11 Sealing up of lists of postal voters and counterfoils of ballot papers – include election observers, tighten up procedures.

156 R12A Exercise of overseas postal vote – EC to set campaign period to enable all postal votes to be received in time.

157 R13 Receipt of covering envelope – reject late ballot. Keep in locked sack.

158 R13A Receipt of overseas covering envelopes – reject late overseas postal ballot. Keep in locked sack.

159 R14 Opening of postal voters' ballot box – allow election observers.

160 R15 Opening of covering envelopes – record no. of envelope B in Form SPR 754B, ensure rejected ballot paper is marked “rejected”, tighten up other procedures arising from omission of serial nos from Form 2.

161 R16 Sealing up of rejected votes and Form 2 – require agents to sign on security tape.

162 R17 Opening of envelope A – reconcile omission of serial no. on envelope A.

163 R18 Procedure on the discovery of more than one ballot paper – reject both papers.

164 R19A Forms - enough copies of forms to be issued to agents after signing by them and sanction against returning officer for failure to comply.

165 SCHEDULE - Rename to First Schedule.

166 Form 1 Application for postal ballot paper - include candidate, election agent, candidate agent, overseas presiding officer, overseas agent, long-term inmate in a registered nursing home or hospital.

167 Form 1A Statutory declaration in respect of application for overseas postal ballot paper – new form.

168 Form 2 Declaration of identity – delete provision to record ballot paper no. as it violates S5 of EOA, amend instructions to voter, sample of valid ballot paper added.

169 Form 754A Overseas Postal/Postal Ballot Papers Issued. Equivalent to Form 13A of COE.

170 Form 754B Overseas Postal/Postal Ballot Papers Closing Statement. Equivalent to Form 13B of COE.

171 Second Schedule – Procedures to be followed in the securing of election documents for postal voting.

7 Advance Voting [New]

172 R1 Citation

173 R2 Interpretation

174 R3 Persons entitled to vote as advance voters – military and police on duty (Military and police excluding their spouse. Postal vote to be accorded only if they are duty on both advance polling and normal polling days. The should vote in a constituency allotted based on their last known civilian address prioir to joining the Force.) during polling day, EC officers and candidate/agents on duty during polling day, voter in Sabah/Sarawak residing in Peninsular Malaysia, voter in Peninsular Malaysia residing in Sabah/Sarawak.

175 R4 Appointment of presiding officers.

176 R5 Appointment of other officers and staff.

177 R6 Facilities to be provided at polling centre and station.

178 7. Advance polling day (set either 1 or 2 days before polling day.)

179 8. Advance voter electoral rolls.

180 9. Admittance to polling station.

181 10. Marking of polling station limits.

182 11. Poll by ballot and ballot papers.

183 12. Ballot boxes.

184 13. Election Materials.

185 14. Manner of voting.

186 15. Non-compliance with the manner of voting.

187 16. Declarations by voters.

188 17. Spoilt ballot papers.

189 18. Closing of poll – two days before polling day.

190 19. Place of counting of votes.

191 20. Procedure on close of poll.

192 21. Counting of votes by presiding officer – 8am on polling day to give sufficient time to sort, count the votes and report to the returning officer.

193 22. Safe custody of election documents.

194 23. Disposal of ballot papers, etc.

8 Election Ombudsman Office Act

195 1. Short title

196 2. Remuneration

197 3. Charge of salary

198 4. Protection of members,

199 5 Members, officers and servants of Office deemed public servants

200 6. Giving false information to Commission.

201 7. Unauthorised publication and disclosure of information.

202 8. Influencing or attempting to influence Commission.

203 9. Consent of Public Prosecutor to prosecutions.

204 10. Schedule may be amended by regulations.

ADDITIONAL DREAMS
Dream no. (No. Impian)
1 Clean up electoral roll (Bersihkan Senarai Undi)
2 Reform Postal voting (Mereformasikan Undi Pos)
3 Use indelible ink (Gunakan Dakwat Kekal)
4 Free and Fair Access to Communications (media) (Akses Komunikasi Bebas & Adil)
5 Minimum campaign period of 28 day (Masa Kempen Minima 28 Hari)
6 Strengthen public institutions (Kukuhkan Institusi Awam)
7 Stop corruption (Hentikan Rasuah)
a) Return and declaration in respect of income and assets
b) Control of political donation but no limit on election campaign expenses,
c) Political parties cannot own businesses,
d) No legal immunity for Govt servants and EC staff for electoral offences, (Tiada imuniti kepada anggota kerja Kerajaan serta SPR dari kesalahan-kesalahan pilihan raya)
e) MACC to be answerable to Parliament, (SPRM adalah bawah tanggungjawab kepada Parlimen)
f) Petronas to be answerable to Parliament, (Petronas adalah bawah tanggungjawab kepada Parlimen)
g) IPCMC to oversee the Police, (Pengawasan Polis oleh IPCMC)
h) Reform the Judiciary. (Merefomasikan system Perhakiman)
i) The Attorney General to be answerable to Parliament, (Peguam Negara adalah bawah tanggungjawab kepada Parlimen).
8 Stop dirty politics (Hentikan Politik Kotor)
9 Remove current EC members, (Menengeluarkan ahli-ahli SPR yang sedia ada)
10 International Observers, (Pemantau dari Antarabangsa)
11 Election Code of Conduct (Kod Etika Pilihan Raya)
12 Call in United Nations to manage the next General Elections – GE13, (Menjemputkan Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu untuk menguruskan Pilihanraya Agung - GE13)
13 Increase salaries of MPs to RM 20,000 and ADUNs to RM 15,000, (Menaikkan gaji ahli parlimen untuk RM 20,000 dan ADUN RM 15,000)
14 Federal Territories entitled to set up a State with ADUNs, (Wilayah Persekutuan berhak untuk menubuhkan Negeri dibawah ADUN)
15 Government to fund political parties and independent candidates, (Kerajaan membiayai parti-parti politik dan calon-calon bebas)
16 Fair and equal access of funding to all MPs and ADUNs, (Akses yang adil dan saksama pembiayaan kepada semua Ahli Parlimen dan ADUN)
17 Ombudsman to oversee Government
18 Sign on to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Summary of Amendments:
Doc No. No. of Amendments
0 28
1 11
2 28
3 5
4 53
5 16
6 30
7 23
8 10
total 204

Summary:
BN, if they adopt these proposals have to agree to go the full term for Parliament and undertake to meet the milestones stated. Amendments to the Federal Constitution will need the co-operation of Pakatan Rakyat.Amendments to the Election Acts and Regulations can be done on their own. If BN accepts and implement the amendments according to the timeline suggested or if possible earlier, we will consider that they accept the principles of Free and Fair Elections.

Pakatan Rakyat, if they adopt these proposals and if they were to be successful in becoming the Government after GE13 have to undertake to do the following: Amend all the Election Acts and Regulations. Endeavour to amend the Federal Constitution with the co-operation of the Opposition should PR have insufficient MPs to secure a 2/3 majority in Parliament.After replacing the EC with a new Commission who can act indepently and cleaning up the electoral rolls, PR shall, within 1 year of taking over the Government, dissolve Parliament and the Senate, and call for fresh elections based on the cleaned-up rolls and new Acts, new Regulations and possibly amendments to the Federal Constitution, to comply with the MERP.

If they undertake to do the above, they will be considered to support Free and Fair Elections.