DAP: Proxy vote will cripple PR
By Yow Hong Chieh, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — The DAP has alleged that a proposed proxy-voting system will cripple the opposition in the next general election as it would lead to vote-buying and phantom voting.
The party said the Election Commission’s (EC) proposal would possibly strike a fatal blow to Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) hopes of seizing Putrajaya as it would open up “another avenue of abuse” for Barisan Nasional (BN) to exploit.
“Allowing proxy voting will only add on to BN’s arsenal of weapons against PR to defend Putrajaya at all costs,” DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Engsaid in a statement today. (picture)
The Malaysian Insider reported earlier today that the EC was studying the possibility of implementing a proxy-voting system that would empower individuals to cast ballots on behalf of other registered voters.
EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said the proposal would be among some 30 amendments to election laws in the country that the commission hoped to table in the coming Parliament sitting in March.
Lim said today BN’s “abysmal record of perverting clean conduct” and the EC’s failure to monitor and ensure compliance meant there were serious concerns that proxy voting would only serve to legitimise the practice of employing phantom voters.
PR alleges that BN frequently uses phantom voters — voters from outside the constituency and other ineligible voters — to boost votes in their favour during elections.
The Penang chief minister said if the EC was sincere about letting absentee voters cast their vote, the EC should have allowed Malaysians living overseas to register and vote at Malaysia’s embassies.
