The Election Commissions of Bhutan, Bangladesh, India and Malaysia

By admin-s Last updated Nov 5, 2014

Have you thought about how Malaysia’s Election Commission compares with its counterparts in Bhutan, Bangladesh and India? And about how it compares with two Malaysian NGO’s who are working on improving the election process in Malaysia?

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Bhutan is home to fewer than one million people. Bhutan transitioned from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy in 2008 when the first general election was held. Bhutan is a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), together with Malaysia.

On 7^th October the website of the Election Commission of Bhutan, announced that the head of Bhutan’s EC would attend an SAARC workshop in Langkawi from the 8^th to the 9^th of October. The announcement about the Fourth Informal Workshop of Chief Election Commissioners of South Asia included this:

“In the Workshop, the Chief Election Commissioners/Heads of Election Management Bodies of SAARC Countries will share knowledge, identify common challenges and explore ways to help each other in response to many common problems faced.

The Workshop is supported by the Malaysian Commonwealth Studies Centre, the Cambridge Malaysian Education and Development Trust, the Cambridge Conference on Electoral Democracy, and the Foundation for Advanced Management of Elections and the Election Commission of Malaysia.”

The website of the EC of Malaysia (SPR) says nothing about the Langkawi workshop.

The agenda of previous workshops in the series included legislation and implementation to curb the illicit use of media during elections; the establishment of a regional elections academy, and electronic voting. The Chiefs of the EC’s of India and Pakistan reported their progress in those areas.

Bangladesh has a population of about 157 million. The website of the EC of Bangladesh is frequently updated, in the Bangla language. Recent updates include “Political parties (sic) expenses” and “Candidate disclosure.” Bangladesh is considered a poster child for clean and fair elections – they even used photo identification in their elections.

India is home to over 1.2 billion people, over 1,600 political parties and over 800 million registered voters. India held a general election in May this year. The election, which entailed six weeks of voting in about 930,000 polling stations, proceeded smoothly. Electoral malpractices did not feature in news reports about the election which swept away a long-entrenched coalition.

You can freely download and read much about the Indian election process in the report “Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation,” issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI). The report documents work done collaboratively with the United Nations Development Program. These words from page 3 of the 211 page report show the spirit which energizes the ECI:

“Is voting just a right, a duty, a voluntary action or an empowering collective journey taken by a huge number of people deciding not the fate of the candidate but their own?”

“The electoral process is one of the major unifying activities for Indian citizens. Election Day is the one day when everyone in India is EQUAL.”

I have touched on how the ECs’ of tiny Bhutan, large Bangladesh and massive India communicate electronically with their citizens. I have touched on how the ECI ran a smooth election which produced radical change. I have pointed to how the ECI encourages voters to connect democratic self-determination, unity and equality.

The ECs’ of Bhutan, Bangladesh and India make good use of the internet. What can I say about the use of the internet by the EC of Malaysia (SPR, Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya), home of the Multi Media Super Corridor?