THE coming Malacca state polls on November 20 must be safe and free, especially in light of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, Kota Melaka MP Khoo Poay Tiong said today.

He said the Election Commission (EC) was duty-bound to ensure safe and fair elections.

“Various parties have expressed concerns over having the state election, especially when the country is just beginning to recover from the Covid-19 outbreak. Yet, we have little choice.

“The people of Malacca have been forced into this situation because of the political games by the four state assemblypersons who withdrew their support,” he said.

Polling has been set for November 20, with nomination day fixed for November 8. Early voting will be held on November 16.

Khoo predicts the voter turnout to drop for the upcoming polls, saying people have grown fed up of politics and were also concerned about the Covid-19 situation.

He said everyone must play their role to instil confidence among the public.

“Voter turnout will likely drop in the state election, primarily due to the people’s concerns over Covid-19 and their disillusionment with politics.

“All stakeholders, including the government, the EC, political parties, and NGOs (non-governmental organisations), must work together to strengthen public confidence in our electoral process.

“The EC plays a critical role to ensure a safe, fair, and clean election,” he said.

In line with his call for a safe and clean election, Khoo also suggested several other ideas.

He said that the EC must ensure the entire election process is safe and in line with public health protocols.

Citing the Sabah state election held last year, which caused a spike in Covid-19 cases, Khoo said the standard operating procedure (SOP) published then were not enforced.

“The EC must review existing polling stations to ensure they are still suitable for use. In the last general election, several polling stations, especially those in urban areas, were packed with voters lining up for their turn.

“The EC should create new polling stations of voting streams to better manage the crowd during the election,” he said.

Besides this, Khoo said candidates and political parties will need to change the manner of campaigning.

He said public rallies (ceramah) with large crowds are unlikely, given the ongoing concerns over Covid-19.

Hence, to facilitate new forms of campaigning, the EC and government must ensure equal access to national television and radio stations for all parties, he said.

Meanwhile, with postal voting now allowed for Malaysians who are residing overseas, Khoo said the EC must ensure that the postal ballots are delivered and returned in time, adding that, in the past, there had been incidents where voters only received their postal ballots after the elections.

However, Khoo expressed his disappointment at the failure to implement Undi18 and automatic voter registration (AVR) for the Malacca elections.

“The biggest injustice in the state election is that Undi18 and AVR would not be implemented in time, (although) the constitutional amendment to that effect has been passed for over two years.

“In effect, 151,961 voters will lose their constitutional right to vote in the upcoming Malacca state election. This equals to 30% of the current electorate.

“The EC must be held accountable for the failure to implement Undi18 and AVR in time. The EC should still take immediate action to implement Undi18 and AVR for Malacca before the election and not make further excuses,” he said.

Finally, since the anti-party hopping law hasn’t been implemented yet, Khoo called on candidates to voluntarily sign a pledge in the form of a statutory declaration that they would not jump from the party they represented during the election.

He said party-hopping may still happen after the Malacca state election, especially if the result is close, adding that if that were to happen, things would be back to square one. – October 18, 2021.