By now, you must have read about how S Ambiga, her Bersih 2.0 and its coalition partners in the Opposition plan to do street demonstration in Kuala Lumpur with more than 100,000 "yellowish" people this coming Saturday. They triumphantly claim to have a cause and come July 9, the King must be told about it.

NONE When asked to justify the illegal street demonstration, the supporters of the demonstration will immediately go into a predictable knee-jerk reaction. You will get instant lectures on the virtue of unbridled democratic rights and occasional snide looks suggesting your ignorance of the truth.

They will tell you how the good-for-nothing Election Commission (EC) conspires with the BN-government to include dead people in the electoral roll. They get agitated when told that the EC is not to be blamed.

But how many of us take the trouble to report to the EC directly when a relative has died? How is it that we waste no time to inform the bank, insurance company, police, Employers’ Provident Fund and even loan sharks, but not the EC?

The reality is we tend to put off reporting to the EC because it is a five-year thing. We hear people say, "What's the rush? The dead ain't gonna vote, anyway". Little do people know that the EC is not allowed under the law to remove the names of dead people without official proof!

I met National Registration Department (NRD) officers yesterday. They confessed that the number of people, especially in the rural areas, who fail to report a death in their family is a lot. With this kind of lackadaiscal attitude on the part of Malaysians, I wonder why Bersih blames the EC instead of lazy and indifferent Malaysians.

The same thing with allegations of multiple persons registered under a single address. I suspect one of the reasons is that people use rented house addresses when they register to vote. Unfortunately, when they move out from their rented addresses, they fail to notify the EC.

Subsequent tenants then use the same house address to register as voters. I remember when I moved into a rented condo in Kuala Lumpur in 1993. I kept receiving the previous tenant's letters including bank statements and government official letters until the day I moved out three years later just because he did not change his address with the relevant parties.

NONE In the case of alleged phantom voters registered in the house of  Azmin Ali's mother, I find it rather amusing that of all the millions of houses in the country, the EC had to  pick the house belonging to the mother of the of loudest and most vocal  Opposition leaders to plant phantom voters. Very funny, indeed.

Another of Bersih's contentious issue is the postal votes.

Firstly, the name postal vote is somewhat a misnomer. There is no such thing as postal vote for the police, armed forces and the civil servants who work as election officers during the poll. They do not mail out their votes through the postal system. All of them vote in advance, watched over closely by representatives from all contesting parties. Postal voters vote in private booths just like all of us normal voters.

The popular belief, spun by the Opposition, that their superiors will be looking over their shoulders to check who they vote for, is a fallacy.  The representatives of the candidates will be there to ensure that does not happen. Unless of course, they fall asleep on the job.

Some leaders of Bersih also want counting of the postal votes on the same day, citing possibilities of tampering if counted later. It is not a practical idea because the result will influence the voting pattern during normal polling day.

bagan pinang by-election ec preparing postal votes 071009 deputy chief wan ahmad In any case, there have been instances where the Opposition got more postal votes compared to BN. Case in point, Teluk Kemang by election in 2000.

If Bersih worries about the integrity of the postal bags while in the authority's custody, then they should request Opposition representatives presence in the lock up where the bags are kept. I guess staring at the bags for three days non-stop is a small price to pay to ensure the sanctity of the heavily guarded, locked and sealed  postal votes bags.  

It is true that most of the time, postal votes tend to be in favour of the BN. But this is not surprising at all, and can be easily explained. Why would they vote for a party that has been constantly demonising, humiliating, cursing and criticising them? They are also humans with feelings and dignity.

Bersih also wants armed forces personnel and police officers, who are not directly involved in the election, to vote through the normal process like civilians do. They say it is unnecessary for them to vote in advance. I disagree.

NONE One of the most critical days for the nation, where it is at its most vulnerable to chaos and subversive elements, is on polling day where no effective civilian authority is in place. On polling day , the military and police forces are at their highest alert for any untoward incidence which could compromise the nation's security.

So for Bersih to suggest that the military and police personnel abandon their posts - whether it is in the deep jungle of the interior, far flung islands, air and naval bases, remote border control check points and strategic command centres - is nothing short of being irresponsible. The readiness of our forces to ensure nation's security cannot be compromised at all.

Some may say that I am over exaggerating the potential security threat to the nation during polling day. Maybe. But if it does happen, I’d  rather have our men in uniform to quickly scramble the Sukhois, the MiGs, the F18s and sail out the Frigates, Corvettes and the Subs to intercept enemies. It can only be done if they are at their bases not when they spend time queing in line to vote in Grik, Batang Berjuntai, Lubok Antu or Long Pasia.

sabah rural people development 240609 03 Bersih also demand the postal votes to be extended to Malaysians who live away (domestically) from their voting constituency. For example a Sabahan who lives and works in Kuala Lumpur but registered as voter in Kota Belud, Sabah.

In my opinion, a person registered as a voter in Kota Belud but chooses to live and work in Kuala Lumpur has no business to determine who should be the local ‘wakil rakyat’ for the people of Kota Belud! He should be voting for a ‘wakil rakyat’ in Kuala Lumpur who is in a better position to address issues affecting his life there.

It will not be fair to the local residents of Kota Belud if an "outsider" living in Kuala Lumpur is trying to force his choice of candidate to them when it is them who have to deal with the wakil rakyat on a daily basis.

Isn't asking more people to be under a postal vote system somehow contradicting of Bersih's earlier allegation that the postal vote system is riddled with procedural problems, which leads to suspicions of fraud?

On the use of indelible ink, the EC has explained in great detail about its concern on its usage. My personal concern on the use of indelible ink is related to the legalities.

Does the EC have the power, under the current Elections Act 1958, to deny a person whose finger has been inked from voting, but who now claims his finger was inked forcibly? What happens if that person insists on voting by citing his rights under the constitution, finger inked or not? Will we see chaotic scenes at the polling centres?

indelible ink 020607 These are simple questions but with great consequences if not clearly defined. That is why, instead of street demonstations, Bersih should propose amendments to the Elections Act in Parliament. Even if a million yellows turn up for the street demonstration, the demand cannot be fulfilled without amending the Elections Act to make it more specific and clearer.

The same goes to automatic registration of voters. It is no better than the current all year round open-registration exercise. It also requires the Election Act to be amended to incorporate the provision.

Anyway, when a person decides not to register as voter, isn't he merely exercising his democratic right? Why is Bersih denying him of his right not to register when Bersih is coming to town to champion the people's democratic rights?

I have no problem with Bersih's demand that campaign period to be at least 21 days. But what I find odd is Bersih’s failure to see that the Opposition is enjoying a 365 days, 24/7, nation-wide-non-stop campaign blitz since 2008.

 

pkr gathering in hulu selangor 260310 anwar As for the claim of vote-buying during election,  I hope Ambiga realizes that the Opposition guys marching next to her on the July 9 are quite expert in this as well. Everyone knows that in the midst of the Hulu Selangor by election in April last year, Anwar Ibrahim promised 100,000 land titles to poor home-owners in the constituency.

This was followed quickly by Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim's announcement to abolish quit-rents for shop houses in Hulu Selangor (Source: New Straits Times , 20 April 2010) as well as presenting bonuses amounting to RM6116,000 to all village chiefs and Jawatankuasa Keselamatan dan Kemajuan Kampung (JKKK) in Hulu Selangor (Source: SelangorKini Online , 21 April 2010).

pas muktamar 130610 nik abdul aziz nik mat 1 And I hope Ambiga will not forget the ultimate mother of all vote buying act: PAS leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat's campaign promise of heaven if you vote for PAS!

With all these brouhaha about allegation of election irregularities in Malaysia , I wonder how other countries are doing. Do other countries around the world face issues and allegations of electoral irregulartities? Is the problem unique to Malaysia?

Going through the Internet, I found out that in October last year, the Registrar Of Electors in New Zealand removed from its electoral roll 306 names of people who did not reside at the addresses on their enrolment forms. In Auckland, the ROE investigated 90 voters who had been enrolled as living in two houses in Pembroke St and Puhinui Rd.

In Venezuela, the National Electoral Council was informed of the doubtful existence of 39,000 voters whose age were 100 years and above. In Spain, the Electoral Census Bureau received complaints on discrepancies on the so-called ‘padrons’ of 22 towns in Malaga and a further 16 in Granada.

george w bush final days 130109 03 And in the US, complaints were lodged on voters disenfranchisement when the Republican party was allegedly purging African-Americans names from voters' lists in the 2004 Presidential election in favour of George Bush, Jr. And of course, who could forget when the US Commission on Civil Rights declared that election process in Florida, during the US Presidential Election 2000, was riddled with serious irregularities.

Two interesting points can be deduced from the above stories.

Firstly, statistically speaking, just like any massive databases, electoral rolls will not be 100% error free, even if Anwar Ibrahim does become the prime minister.

It is not statistically possible. There is always what statisticians refer to as allowable sampling error which in no way affects the integrity of the whole list.

Secondly, in instances above, the complainants lodge reports to their respective election authorities and allow investigations to be conducted. They do not resort to massive street demonstrations.

bersih rally 271207 02 My last point in this article is a question that I would like to pose to the KL-ites. Are you ready for frequent street demonstrations in the heart of Kuala Lumpur? Are you ready for the inconveniences? I am afraid that will be the norm if Bersih is allowed to start.

You cannot allow Bersih and deny others from marching down the Bukit Bintang road every weekend for a cause they believe in. You risk being called hypocrites.

The writer is BN member of parliament for Kota Belud, Sabah. The above piece first appeared on his blog .