In 'first past the post' system, every vote counts
YOURSAY 'In many countries with this system, it takes less than a 2% vote swing at national level to change a government.'
Only 0.3 percent problems' in electoral roll
Quigonbond:
First of all, the 0.3% figure is a blatant lie because the problem with the electoral roll certainly exceeds a mere 36,000 problems (if we calculate based on 12 million voters), if all the problems highlighted by the civil society were to be taken into account.
Secondly, it does not matter whether it is 0.3% or 0.1%. The crux of the issue is the inability of the Election Commission (EC) to enforce electoral integrity, much less spearhead reform.
If all election commissions of yesteryears have held firm against boundary rigging, it would not have come to this stage where a vote in Kapar is only worth 0.05 times a vote in Putrajaya.
And this EC does not get to wash its hands off blaming previous ECs because it is the sum of all previous ECs appointed by BN - from passive civil service mentality.
Third, 0.3% swing is very critical to this election, and one can only regard with incredulity that this EC don't regard such a disparity as needing urgent care and attention.
Sentinel: These apologists for the Umno and its yes-men partners who are prepared to commit treason against king and country by abetting in the instant naturalisation and enfranchisement of foreigners are obviously men without any principles.
At the core of their ethics is the idea that what is expedient is right. Are you surprised then that incestuous rape - men raping their own natural daughters - is endemic to this community?
Or that schoolgirls who fornicate and then abandon their babies at rubbish dumps, street corners, or in the foyers of prominent buildings are also prevalent?
In my opinion, a medicine stronger than Bersih 3.0 is needed. Nationwide ‘hartals' (strikes) at regular intervals may be the stronger medicine.
View Across The Straits: What have EC been doing with these 42,000 doubtful voters. Wait for them to come forward and confirm themselves? Sit around until kingdom come?
It is your job to clean up the electoral roll. It seems like you need to be pushed before you act. Is that the nature of your altitude?
You have four years after every election to clean up these rolls. What have your officials been doing during those time?
Telestai!: It is shocking to hear EC chief Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof dismissing the error list as insignificant. In an voting system that works on ‘first past the post' principle, every vote counts.
In many countries with this system, it takes less than a 2% vote swing at national level to change a government. Mathematically, BN stands to gain a 15% advantage without lifting a finger.
No, we do not expect a 100% correct electoral list but 42,052 errors is one too many. Stop whining and get back to work.
Kgen: 0.3% errors? Abdul Aziz is living in a dreamland. Political analyst Ong Kian Ming said there are 400,000 dubious records and that is only the tip of the iceberg. This is already 3%.
The real number may be much higher and they are not errors but fraud by the EC. Even 3% is enough to sway the elections in a closely fought contest in our ‘first past the post' system, especially when they are injected into marginal seats.
Resign, Abdul Aziz. You are incapable of conducting free and fair elections. We though the previous EC chief was bad, but you are 10 times worse.
Changeagent: I'm not sure if there is anywhere in the world where the electoral roll is 100 percent accurate.
But I do know no where else in the world that the removal rate of extremely dubious records is only a paltry 0.076 percent (301 out of 42,051 records).
Onyourtoes: EC, what you mentioned was just one of the many problems. Although 0.3% is a small number but if they put in strategic constituencies, I am sure they would make a big difference.
But what about dubious granting of ICs to people who do not qualify? What about unexplained increase in voters in certain constituencies where such increase was not supposed to take place?
Leon Chan: That is the problem with 'not so intelligent' people in EC. If you want to achieve developed nation status, you should aim for perfection.
By the way, not all countries have electoral rolls. Eligible voters can cast their votes by just producing their identity cards.
This is to avoid manipulation and unnecessary registration mistakes, just like what is happening to our EC now. Wise up. Do the right thing!
Ferdtan: Abdul Aziz, there is no point in talking anymore. You have lost the trust and respect of all Malaysians. No matter how much you justify the mistakes (we call it fraud) there is a point of no return.
We support Bersih 3.0's new demand for all EC members to resign. If you say there is no big issue and the electoral rolls are relatively clean, then we challenge you to get external independent auditors to audit not only the rolls but also the whole system in relation with its process and procedures. That is what we call 'talking the talk'.
Lim Chong Leong: Don't try to make the figure look small by using percentages. The 0.3% looks small but 42,000 voters can make or break state or federal governments considering some small constituencies are of only several thousand voters.
Throw in 1,000 of these dubious votes into these small seats and you can win 42 seats hands down. Enough to go five to eight seats in each state.
And why count only the 42,000 dubious voters that are detected? What about the close to genuine class A fakes, with real IC but cannot speak a single Bahasa word Indonesian/Bangladeshi voter?
And what about the postal votes and army votes? How many more thousand are these? We know for certain Sabah had a population boom.
All we are asking for is that a more transparent system be implemented and a proper probe be made into allegations like the Project M in Sabah.
Anonymous #94574956: Just because you are crooked doesn't mean that the whole world is like you.
The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now .
For more news and views that matter, subscribe and support independent media for only RM0.36 sen a day:
Subscribe now