Low turnout: PKR member urges election committee to reveal voter list

Summary

• A former PKR Youth vice-chief calls on the party election committee to reveal the list of those who voted in the internal election.

• Prasanth Kumar Brakasam questions why only 13,669 delegates voted for the deputy presidency candidates.

• Pointing to the low voter turnout, he says candidates have a right to know who voted, as they paid high nomination fees.

The PKR election committee has been urged to reveal the list of delegates who voted in the party's internal election on May 23.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, former PKR Youth vice-chief Prasanth Kumar Brakasam said disclosing the list is vital as many candidates vying for central positions, including in the youth and women's wings, are still questioning the low turnout.

"Initially, the party said the number of eligible voters was around 29,000, including both physical and online voting. Then, just a day before the election, the number dropped to 22,089.

"But on election day, according to the election committee, only 13,669 delegates fulfilled their responsibility," he said, citing the total number of votes received by both Nurul Izzah Anwar and Rafizi Ramli for the deputy presidency.

"The question is, why did only 13,669 delegates vote, whether physically or online? What happened to the remaining 8,420 eligible delegates who did not vote? Did they not show up to vote, or was it a system failure? This is what we want to know."

On May 14, PKR secretary-general Fuziah Salleh said more than 29,000 delegates were expected to participate in the party’s central leadership election for the 2025 to 2028 term via both physical and online voting.

However, on May 22, she said only 22,809 delegates - comprising 13,060 online voters and 9,829 physical voters - would vote.

Of that number, 6,990 were expected to vote in Johor Bahru, while 1,120 and 919 were expected to vote in Sabah and Sarawak, respectively.

Despite this, on election day, only 13,669 delegates voted for the deputy president position, which Nurul Izzah won with 9,803 votes in a one-on-one contest. Rafizi received only 3,866 votes.

Recorded votes

Previously, election committee chairperson Dr Zaliha Mustafa said 32,021 delegates were eligible to vote for the central leadership.

But only 18,268 votes were recorded - 12,618 online and 5,650 physical - bringing the overall turnout to 57.05 percent, according to a report by Scoop.

"This is not unusual, as our system allows delegates to choose which positions to vote for or not to vote at all. That is their right," she said.

According to the same report, PKR veteran and election committee member R Sivarasa said the party's website showed that 22,000 delegates were eligible to vote in the deputy presidency contest.

"The turnout of around 57 percent isn’t high, but we’ve provided the opportunity to vote. We can’t force them to do so.

"Some have said the percentage is quite low, but at the division level, the average turnout was around 75 percent," he added.

He said the election process was conducted transparently and denied allegations that some eligible delegates had boycotted the election.

Less effective system

Commenting further, Prasanth explained that the party opted for a delegate voting system this time as the previous "one member, one vote" system was seen as less effective.

"The leadership selected the delegate system to improve turnout compared to the previous method. The election committee reported an average turnout of 57 percent for the central elections. That’s significantly lower than the 75 percent recorded during division-level voting.

"What’s the logic in division-level turnout being 75 percent, but only 57 percent for the central leadership? If it were a ‘one member, one vote’ system, we’d understand. We can't force members to vote.

"But this is a delegate system. Delegates are selected by division chiefs, many of whom are also contesting for central posts. It’s unlikely they would lack interest in the central vote.

"This raises questions. Candidates paid high nomination fees and deserve to know which delegates voted.

"The election committee should release the list of names and membership numbers of delegates who voted, both online and in person," he said.

Prasanth added that many candidates would be sending formal letters to the party leadership requesting the disclosure of the voter list.

Malaysiakini is still attempting to contact Fuziah and the election committee for comment.

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