EC approves ballot count coverage, to study existing laws
(The Malay Mail) – The Election Commission (EC) has agreed to Putrajaya’s proposal for live coverage of the ballot-counting process during elections but says it needs to study existing regulations before accommodating the request.
EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof (picture) said the idea, mooted yesterday by minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, would help prove the transparency of the regulator’s operations that has come under heavy fire since Election 2013.
“We have nothing to hide,” he told The Malay Mail Online when contacted.
But Abdul Aziz also said the EC must check the law to see if government-owned Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) can be allowed to place its cameras in the vote-counting rooms.
He indicated that the EC currently has strict rules on those who are allowed to go into the tallying room.
“At the moment, a limited number are permitted in the counting room — candidate agent, [polling centre chief], EC clerks and a few others permitted by the EC,” he said.
Despite the restrictions on entry into vote-tallying centres, Abdul Aziz said the matter could still be discussed with the EC, saying: “I don’t see a problem with that, we can discuss with them. We have to discuss what’s the implications.”
The proposal yesterday by Ahmad Shabery, the new communications and multimedia minister, comes even as the EC remains under constant fire for its alleged failure to ensure a transparent and fair polls process.
Abdul Aziz and his deputy Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar are at the centre of allegations of vote fraud, which many opposition lawmakers and civil society activists believe had occurred during the just-concluded May 5 general election.
Among others, they have been put under the microscope for allegedly failing to implement key electoral reform demands effectively, from the running of the polls process to technical matters like the handling of the indelible ink that fell short of its name on Polling Day.
Opposition leaders and polls watchdog have been calling for the duo’s resignations, while urging the government to carry out bolder and more decisive reforms to current practices in the polling process.
The struggle has resulted in several massive street protests over the years, many of which resulted in running battles on the streets of the capital and have even been credited for the major electoral losses suffered by the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) in the last two general elections — Election 2008 and 2013.
Electoral reform group Bersih’s Maria Chin Abdullah yesterday said the live coverage would be nothing but “icing on rotten cake” if Putrajaya skips bold and major reforms such as the cleaning up of the electoral roll which purportedly contains numerous discrepancies.
Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, president of another polls watchdog Mafrel, had also said the key issue was in the integrity of EC officers in conducting the polls rather than live coverage of the elections.
Tindak Malaysia’s PY Wong has said live coverage does not address the alleged lack of public confidence in the EC.
