GE-13: Election Watch Report

Transcription

1 GE-13: Election Watch Report

2 Contents Acknowledgements... i Section 1: Introduction Scope of the report... 1 Section 2: Approach Criteria for observation Deployment of observers... 2 Section 3: Observation Challenges Limitations of the observation Perspective of the observation... 3 Section 4: The Election Environment Review of legislative and administrative framework Conduct of caretaker government Media conduct during election Conduct of the Election Commission... 9 Section 5: Ground Observation Findings Nomination day observations Campaign period observations Overseas voting observations Advance polling day observations General election observations Post election issues Section 6: Recommendations Section 7: Conclusion... 25

3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The domestic observers efforts would not have been successful without the assistance and support from a wide range of organizations and individuals. Merdeka Center for Opinion Research (Merdeka Center) is thankful to the Election Commission of Malaysia (EC) for assigning this important opportunity to observe Malaysia s 13th General Election (GE13). We express our appreciation to Encik Harun Bin Che Su and Encik Syed Ahmad Bashah Bin Syed Anwar of the EC, for their kind help and consultation during the course of our work. Merdeka Center would also like to express our gratitude to each and every dedicated observer from across the Peninsula Malaysia and abroad for their commitment to the project. This task would not have been successfully conducted without their passion. A special appreciation goes to the team of State Coordinators for their persistent effort to organize and attend to all observers under their supervision. Also, our words seem inadequate to express the sadness we feel over the passing of Encik Jasmadey b. Jamaludin, our state Coordinator for Terengganu, just days prior to the election. Much of our work would have not been possible without the expertise and experience from the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (BERSIH), Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections (MAFREL), Pusat Komunikasi Masyarakat (KOMAS) and Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL). We are highly thankful to our team of IT Project Developers for their hard work in providing our observers the web and Android application platform. Our special gratitude also goes out to the secretariat team for ensuring the queries of our observers are always met. Not forgetting, the team of writers for their contribution to this report. And finally, Merdeka Center would like to express our gratitude to Election Commission officials, security officials and all Malaysia citizens for accommodating our observation efforts. i

4 SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION The GE13 was carried out with elements updated into the election process following recommendations made by the 2011 Parliament Select Committee on Electoral Reforms (PSC), and the 2012 gazetted amendments to the Election (Conduct of General Election) Regulations 1981 and the Election (Postal Voting) Regulations 2003 which were: Elimination of the candidacy withdrawal and objection process after AM on nomination day Longest campaign period of 15 days Advance polling day for 235,826 voters comprising of military personnel and their spouses, some members of the police force (including the General Operations Force 1 ) The use of indelible ink on advance polling day and on general election day, which was applied to the left index fingers of voters prior to the issuance of the ballot paper and Disabled and blind persons were allowed to be assisted by any Malaysian above 21 years of age other than their family members Scope of the report This report covers the publicly observable processes of the election. By publicly observable, we mean that the reporting covers only the scope and processes that were permitted by the EC and its agents as well as what were permissible under the constraints of the terms of reference accorded by the EC. In short, our observations covered the following areas: Nomination day activities: from the opening of the nomination center until the announcement of candidates on April 20th, 2013 Campaign period activities covering events, activities and media coverage of the contesting political parties, caretaker government, the Election Commission, various enforcement agencies from April 20th, 2013 until midnight May 4th 2013 Early voting process on April 30, 2013: covering the opening of the early voting polling stations until the closing of the center Ordinary Voting process on May 5th 2013: covering the opening of the polling centers, voting process, closing process, counting and tabulation of votes and Announcement of results and some post-election activities We have also included overviews of the electoral environment which sets the scene for GE13. Section 5 discusses some background to the election environment and key events toward the Election Day with regards to the legal perspective, the conduct of the caretaker government, media coverage during elections and the conduct of the Election Commission. 1

5 SECTION 2: APPROACH 2.1. Criteria for observation The responsibility as domestic observers to observe, document and evaluate on the freedom and fairness of our country s 13th General Election, was accepted by Merdeka Center on 31 January With the accreditation, came the requirements of the EC s Domestic Observers Pledge comprising of 19 points which highlighted the observers do s and don t s. We deem the Declaration on Criteria for Free and Fair Elections, adopted by the Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU) as an apt standard given Malaysia s membership with IPU since This standard concisely outlines the various domains of periodic elections, universal suffrage, the rights of the candidates/ party, the responsibilities of the state and the role of the electoral management body. These criteria were also embedded into our training and deployment plan Deployment of observers A total of 206 observers from 79 constituencies in the peninsula were recruited as domestic observers from 1 February to 10 March Members of our secretariat carried out 20 formal trainings and numerous sessions in the homes of volunteers and various informal settings, to ensure the objectives and tasks at hand were communicated clearly. Each observer was equipped with an observation kit that included the EC s Code of Conduct for the Elections booklet, an observer s guide book to the electoral processes under purview with supplementary information and nine observations forms. The nine observation forms ranged from: Nomination of candidates Campaign event Opening, polling centre environment, and closing of advance polling and Opening, polling centre environment, closing and tallying of general election. The observers also benefitted from additional support in the form of an online website to upload responses and to download the PEMERHATI android application for mobile devices to ease monitoring on the ground. Hotline numbers manned by the secretariat were made available from nomination day right to the end, ensuring adequate support particularly those with limited internet access to log their responses timely. Meanwhile, 21 observers from 8 countries (namely Australia, Taiwan, China, United Kingdom, United States of America, the United Arab Emirates, France and Switzerland) were deployed during the overseas polling day for overseas postal voters on 28 April Their work was also guided with an observation form, of which their responses were collected through Google Forms. 2

6 SECTION 3: OBSERVATION CHALLENGES 3.1. Limitations of the observation Our observers performed their duties as best possible within the set parameters which included the terms set by the EC as well as the limited geographic coverage that allowed the maximum limit of three observers per parliamentary district. Our observation activities were limited by several constraints such as deployment constraints and curtailed access, as below: Curtailed Access We were not able to view the postal voting process with respect to EC workers and media workers in its entirety. This is a major process involving approximately 240,000 EC workers (over one thousand per parliamentary district) and a reported 50,000 media personnel While we were able to observe the early voting process with respect to military and police personnel (along with their spouses) in some locations, we were not able to verify the process of scrutinizing the ballot boxes in their secured locations between early voting day (April 30th 2013) and tabulation day (end of day, May 5th 2013). There appears to be some issues of concern which we will discuss further in the main report On Election Day, our observers were not able to be present in the polling room to view the process of issuing ballots and balloting by voters, due to the prohibition set by the EC. In limited instances, a few of our observers were able to briefly view the balloting after polling station leaders others viewed the process by peering through windows of the polling room. While we acquiesced to this less than optimal term we note that this is a departure from international observation standards. We wish to state on record that the reason given by the EC was to prevent disruption of the voting process and that actual observation was already provided by the representation of the contesting candidates, and Our observers were prevented from freely selecting the locations of vote counting by the EC. Although originally assuring that the counting process can be freely observed during the negotiations and public briefings, the EC on 19 April 2013 subsequently sent us an informing us that observers will only be allowed to view counting at designated locations for reasons of easing logistical arrangements to accommodate the observers (please see Appendix 1 for a copy of the ). We note that these designated locations tended to be urban polling stations located close to the tabulation centers. As such we were unable to view vote counting process at other polling centers in our observation areas Perspective of the observation We recognize the EC s effort to permit some semblance of election observation to take place but we also realize that the opportunity only arose after much criticism and public pressure. In our view, the EC could have won over significant support had it allowed more organizations to participate in the election observation efforts however it chose to limit the opportunity to a handful of organizations which had neither the people or the expertise. We believe that the EC did themselves and the 3

7 democratic process a disservice by precluding groups such as MAFREL, BERSIH and others from being able to participate. Some of the terms set by the EC on accredited observers which limited the effectiveness of the observation process, include: Prohibition from disclosing to the media Prevention of freely selecting the location to view the counting process and Limitation of the number of observers to three per parliamentary constituency By constraining the already small numbers of observers to limited numbers of location, it further reduced the effectiveness of the observation effort. To put into perspective, there is an average of about 150 polling streams or rooms in each parliamentary constituency. Ifthere were 15 observers from the participating organizations, there never would have been more than 10% of the polling streams scrutinized at any one time. By limiting the observation to be limited to just one or two predetermined streams per parliamentary district, the purpose of the observation at least of the counting process had been rendered to be an academic exercise by the EC. 4

8 SECTION 4: THE ELECTION ENVIRONMENT 4.1. Review of legislative and administrative framework The election laws in Malaysia are as follows: Elections Act 1958 and Regulations Election Offences Act 1954 and Election Commission Act The EC is a body that supervises the conduct of elections and the registration of electors on the electoral rolls. The EC can prosecute under the Election Commission Act 1957 with consent from the Public Prosecutor. Administratively however, the EC is placed under the Prime Minister s Department, which contributes to long standing concerns about its impartiality and neutrality. The EC is responsible for the preparation, publication and revision of the electoral rolls 2 and reviewing and altering electoral constituencies 3. The EC has the power to make regulations relating to the registration of electors 4 and conduct of elections 5 with the approval of the Yang di-pertuan Agong. Its membership consists of a chairman, a deputy chairman and five members. All appointments are made by the Yang di-pertuan Agong after consultation with the Conference of Rulers. Election offences are stated in Part II Electoral Offences of the Election Offences Act 1954 (EOA) i.e. Section 3 to Section 6 of the EOA and Part III Corrupt Practices Section 7 to Section 11 of the EOA. The purpose of this Act is to prevent electoral offences and corrupt and illegal practices at the elections which include the campaign period of the elections 6. Two days before the nomination day, 18 April 2013, the Registrar of Society (RoS) disputed the validity of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and refused to recognise the CEC. A letter dated 17 April 2013 was given to that effect and sparked an issue as to whether DAP can use their party logo, the Rocket, on the ballot paper. RoS refused not recognise the DAP office bearers formed by the CEC on 15 December As a result of this, DAP was prepared to use the PAS logo for Peninsula Malaysia and the PKR logo in Sabah & Sarawak should the rocket logo not be allowed to be used on nomination day 7. The EC deputy chairman, Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, said on 18 April that DAP could field its candidates under the Rocket logo despite investigation by RoS and the non recognition of CEC by the RoS. He went on to state that the only problem was that RoS was not recognising the CEC and DAP was not being deregistered and regarded DAP as a registered political political party. As separate election body, the EC should not have commented on the status of DAP with regards to an issue which is pending investigation by the RoS. The EC is not in the position to comment on whether DAP is allowed to use their logo or not. It is for the RoS to confirm whether they are allowed to use the rocket logo or not. The EC's scope is limited to the electoral process and acted beyond their scope with regards to this issue. 5

9 4.2. Conduct of caretaker government On Friday, March 29 th 2013, Prime Minister Najib Razak signed 24 contracts involving defense assets and services worth more than RM4.2 billion at the 2013 Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) 9. Two days later, as predicted by many observers 10, he called for the dissolution of Parliament. While the Prime Minister was within his powers approving the LIMA contracts just two days before dissolving parliament, some viewed the move as extremely unethical as the future government would be bound by the same contracts 11 in the future. This decision by the Prime Minister was a certainly a harbinger for what was to come during the caretaker period. With Parliament dissolved, the government effectively took on the role of a caretaker government. However, it was not bound by any code of conduct as the EC and Attorney General s Chambers failed to issue proper guidelines for the interim government. The lack of effort demonstrated by the two organizations is nothing short of appalling because having a code of conduct for the caretaker government was one of the 22 recommendations made by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms. Instead, Attorney-General Gani-Patail said that he believed government officials were fair minded people who knew what should be done 12. In the end, only polls watchdog group Bersih released a set of guidelines for the caretaker government. Overall, this report finds that the federal caretaker government grossly violated its powers especially in repeatedly making pledges offering financial grants and projects. Among the more significant promises was an RM8 billion allocation for three major projects in Cyberjaya, signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Indian rights group Hindraf, an RM3.8 million allocation for various Sikh groups, extending the contracts of nearly 50,000 workers from the National Unity and Integration Department, promising to build 9,999 units of low- and medium-cost in Penang and promising that Sime Darby, a government-linked company, would build a new hospital in Kapar. A key issue pertaining to the conduct of a caretaker government concerns the use of state assets for political purposes. This issue became particularly prominent when former Minister of Information, Communications and Culture, Rais Yatim, told the media that the caretaker government had a right to use government machinery as long as campaigning period had not started. When asked to comment on the minister s statement, Election Commission chairman Abdul Aziz Yusof said he generally agreed with the statement 13. Hence, it is unsurprising that on many occasions, Merdeka Centre s observers reported usage of state assets in BN s campaign. Summary of the Bersih Code of Ethics A caretaker government cannot: Make major policy decisions that are likely to commit an incoming government; Make significant appointments; Enter major contracts or undertakings; Announce new financial grants in any form whatsoever or promises thereof; Lay foundation stones etc., or projects or schemes of any kind; and Make any new promises of construction of infrastructure or the carrying out of public projects. One notable incident that garnered plenty of media attention was the use of eight DBKL employees to remove around 16,000 mini flags planted by the opposition at a roundabout in Lucky Garden, Bangsar. DBKL s efforts, however, were stymied when 6

10 about 40 nearby Bangsar residents came out to protest. The event has since been dubbed the Bangsar Spring. Needless to say, there was plenty of campaigning at government venues, including schools and army camps. Whether at groundbreaking ceremonies or events addressing civil servants, officials of the caretaker government consistently wore BN shirts and urged those in attendance to vote for the party. Controversy was abound, especially at the Lumut naval base when former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir was allowed to campaign inside with BN s candidate for Lumut, Kong Cho Ha, but PR candidate and former navy officer with more than 30 years of service, Mohamad Imran was not allowed into the camp to perform his prayers at the mosque. Prior to voting day, Transparency International (TI-M) condemned the caretaker prime minister for practicing money politics in violation of the Election Integrity pledge he had signed with the organization in February 14. TI-M secretary-general Josie M Fernandez said, That money is used by political parties and candidates to win votes is no secret. It has been said that election expenses are like an iceberg, only the tip is visible Media conduct during election The General Elections 2013 revealed an unsurprising media bias towards Barisan Nasional as opposed to Pakatan Rakyat. With the exception of Bfm radio and Youtube videos produced by non-profits such as the Centre for Independent Journalism Malaysia (CIJ), together with the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Malaysians had to turn to satellite and terrestrial television and radio for news on the elections. On May 5, 2013, ASTRO Awani and other mainstream television news channels broadcasted panel talks, updates on voting numbers and discussed the elections and of course the parties involved. With the exception of Karim Raslan, Professor Shamsul Amri Baharuddin and Anis Yusoff of KITA UKM, to name a few, who were objective and founded their arguments on data, the other speakers were unsurprisingly biased, and uninspiring, to say the least. Many turned to CIJ s Watching the Watchdog series of videos 15 on Youtube, which revealed some findings: Barisan Nasional was given the most airtime and coverage BN s coverage was most pronounced when it came to Bernama Out of all the different and negative mentions of any parties, again the opposition suffered the most In light of the rather unsurprising results, Malaysians should ask (i) So what? (ii) What are the implications and (iii) what should be done, when faced with such results Though the data is not surprising and seen on a daily basis, unequal coverage does count. There is a reach as far as mainstream media and television are concerned, that online media and the Internet have not been able to penetrate Informed choices can only be made when we have access to data 7

11 Online media treats all parties equally, and implications is that some segments of Malaysia are still not privy to this Society must question the credibility of mainstream media Monitoring exercises are good. They have shown the disparity in coverage as there is data and statistics. Now, for the first time, Bernama s coverage can be quantified The kind of pressures to change such coverage can be challenging The youth vote is very important and online media must attract them Language and mode of communication must be explored, as well as issues which attract voters and readers On the 10 minute airtime offered to all political parties, it is not enough. It would not address the discrepancy in the data, and the offer is not enough Television is a highly protected medium as it virtually places the message into a person s living room. Television is very impactful and influential It is not just about negative reportage but also manufactured facts Researchers also feel that little will change post GE 13; but in early 2011, the National Union of Journalists made a resolution which was accepted by their members to aspire and provide a fairer coverage in their writing However, even with this, one must mind the influence of the ownership of media; a code of conduct, all that may influence how GE 14 is presented. The Watchdog report based its findings also on the tone and language of reports, and found that the Opposition was attacked ceaselessly in the mainstream media, and the tone was negative. The report observed that The volume of mention-level coverage given to politicians from both coalitions is relatively equitable overall, but some interesting variations are present at the mediumspecific and politician-specific levels. Some other findings stated in their second press release: Najib Razak is the politician given the single most mentions overall i.e. he is the political figure discussed the most, by a significant margin Bernama talk about opposition politicians much more than they talk about BN politicians In contrast, the television news broadcasts talk about BN politicians the most The online media discuss independent political figures more than any of the other three mediums Of all the politicians and political figures tracked, Najib Razak, Muhyiddin Yassin, and Mahathir Mohamad are most commonly used as sources by the media overall, with their combined use as sources (46.9%) larger than that of the rest of the top 10 sources combined, and representing almost half of all source usage tracked Bernama and the television news broadcasts barely use PR politicians as sources, instead devoting most source use to BN followed by independent political figures and 8

12 Muhyiddin Yassin is the source carrying out the highest proportion of all 'attack politics', followed by Najib Razak and Mahathir Mohamad. Together, these three BN politicians are responsible for 64.5% of all political attacks made overall. The advertisements in The Star leading up to the elections that riled up the country, and subsequently contributed to the decline of the paper s readership, were created by an advertising agency, RAPP, owned by a Vincent Lee, who reputedly has MCA ties linked to The Star. Briefly, the media observation is not a lost cause. There are gaps that can be maximised in the immediate future, such as providing media access into the rural and interiors of Malaysia. The internet media has proven to be unbiased towards the Opposition all these years, though perhaps in the future, it should also provide similar service to Barisan (or the current government). The recent news coverage is perhaps a turning point for Malaysians and the future of journalism in Malaysia Conduct of the Election Commission Duty of Election Commission The duties and powers of the EC are stipulated in Part VIII of the Federal Constitution and Election Acts The EC chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof had summarised them into three main functions - to manage and organise elections, to prepare and revise the electoral roll, and to review the constituency boundaries 16. Since the conclusion of the 2008 general election, the opposition and civil society have been demanding that the EC and the federal government reform the electoral system particularly the management of the elections and the preparation of the electoral roll which they claimed were unfair and dirty. Various evidences have been furnished by them and the media to prove irregularities and weaknesses in the electoral roll. However, the EC often cited technical errors to explain the irregularities or put the blame on the national identity database managed by the National Registration Department. On the allegations of power abuse and money politics, including the infamous You help me, I help you, remark made by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak during the Sibu by-election in 2010, the EC repeatedly declined to take a clear stand, arguing that corruption is out of its purview and it should be determined by other government agencies. Both Abdul Aziz and his deputy Wan Omar Wan Ahmad had also openly stressed that the EC was strictly a management body to conduct elections guided by the laws 17. The critics recognised the legal constraints faced by the EC, insisted however that it should at least make a stance against the abuses and urge other enforcement agencies namely the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to take stern actions against the perpetrators. The same reason was used by the commission to dismiss the demands for it to be more proactive and aggressive in pushing for electoral reform. Wan Ahmad had once called on his critics to approach 9

13 the federal government regarding amendments to the election laws as the EC has no say in this aspect 18. Apart from the legal framework, critics pointed out that the appointment of former civil servants as election commissioners is another main factor behind the EC's conservativeness as they were used to act under government's instructions 19. All the seven current election commissioners appointed by the King under the advice of the prime minister are former senior civil servants. In August 2011, Najib announced the setting up of a bi-partisan parliamentary select committee on electoral reform after a street rally demanding for free and clean elections was successfully organised by electoral reform coalition Bersih 2.0 in July 2011 which attracted tens of thousands of participants. In November 2011, an interim report prepared by the select committee was tabled in Parliament. The EC had accepted two key suggestions - the use of indelible ink and advance voting, but completely or partially rejected six of 10 electoral reforms in the interim report including the amendment of laws to allow objections to the electoral roll and verification of the Sabah electoral roll 20. Another full report was passed in Parliament in April 2012 which contained another 22 recommendations and the EC was tasked to implement them. Bersih 2.0 however expressed disappointment over the recommendations, pointing out that they have failed in five major issues including the manipulation of the electoral roll, the improvement of the enforcement and definition of election laws, as well as the invitation of international observers. While most recommendations were made without any particular implementation period, the EC was required to put in place several reforms within three months including overseas voting, guidelines for caretaker government, and publishing list of addresses with too many voters. The list of address was published but was ineffective in tackling the problem of unusual high number of voters registered in certain addresses; the overseas voting was implemented with much disputes and weaknesses; and the guidelines of caretaker government was never published. The Impartiality of EC While we acknowledge some inherent structural problems which compromised the independence of the EC, however, we noticed that the EC adopted a combative, partisan language while responding to the criticisms and even label its critics with negative terms. Wan Ahmad had called Bersih 2.0 co-chairperson Datuk S. Ambiga the Destroyer of democracy 21, and said the EC will not deal with Bersih 2.0 in matters related to electoral reform. He also labelled the opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as King of Slander over Anwar s allegation that 500,000 early ballots from security force personnel had been tampered with. Whenever, civil groups or the public criticise the conduct of election is unfair, the EC will rebutted this claim by saying if the election is unfair, it would be impossible for the opposition to win in five states in the 2008 general election, coincidently the same argument line adopted by the BN politician. 10

14 Also, on the issue of equal access to the state owned media, we noted that the EC did not have the power to control the media coverage of all media in the country, but the EC did not do enough to ensure the state media treated each political party equally and fairly, which the basic rights to reply principle was not followed. The integrity of electoral roll Electoral roll is one of the most important elements in an electoral process. Without a clean and trustworthy electoral roll, the credibility of the election result will be questioned. There are numerous cases brought up by the civil societies such as multiple registrations in a single address, double registration of security officers in both the army roll and normal roll, dubious voters, etc. We noticed that the electoral roll provided by the EC to the public came with incomplete information, such as incomplete address. Apart from that, the EC also aggregated the locality of the voters which makes voter verification gruelling. There was an instance in Lembah Pantai which the electoral roll provided by the EC to Barisan Nasional have complete information of the voter, this has raised doubt as to whether the EC provide different set of electoral roll to the different parties. Overseas voting Since October 2010, numerous calls were made by Malaysian who live and work overseas to be registered as postal voters; however the EC rejected this request citing the Election (Postal Voting) Regulations 2003 that only three category of voters are allowed to cast postal vote, namely army or police on duty; full time students; government officials who base overseas. A pressure group MyOverseasVote (MOV) was formed by overseas Malaysians to lobby for their voting rights in the 13th general election. The EC finally agreed to their call in August In January 2013, the EC announced that Malaysians residing overseas except in Singapore, southern Thailand (Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, Songkhla and Satun), Kalimantan and Brunei would be allowed to apply to vote by post provided that they had been in Malaysia for at least 30 days in total during the previous five years. According to MOV, this has exclude 40% of oversea Malaysians to vote as oversea voters. Further, the EC had only come up with the procedure in 2013, and the overseas voters had to register before the election date was announced. After the overseas voters applied to be postal voters by filling up the 1B form, the approval of their applications were only known before nomination day. The overseas voting was carried out on April 28, and a total of 6,298 overseas voters casted their votes through postal votes. 11

15 Use of indelible ink The EC had agreed to use indelible ink to prevent double voting way back in 2008 General Election, however, this measure was not implemented four days before the polling day on 8 March The reason given was reports made to the police confirming that certain irresponsible quarters had purchased indelible ink from abroad with the intention of creating confusion and suspicion as to the status of voters 22. In this election, the EC had decided to use the indelible ink to ease the doubt of the public on double voting; however, the indelible ink was washable when advance voting process was carried out for security officers five days before the May 5 th polling day. The EC explained that it was due to the clerks not shaking the ink bottles well. However, on polling day, the same thing happened, as the ink was easily washable. This had drawn criticism over the EC s conduct and also manifested the loss of confidence of the public towards the EC. A voter from Kuantan had lodged a police report on 21 May 2013, stating that he had washed off the ink from his finger and successfully was given another ballot paper at the same polling station. He said he did not cast the second vote, but merely to prove the point that double voting was possible 23. On May 21 st, the EC had set up a special task to look into various aspects, including the composition, conditions set forth by the Health Ministry, the method of applying the indelible ink and the results of the various tests that were conducted before and after the ink arrived in Malaysia. We understand that the EC had tested the ink before and that the delible indelible ink had raise serious doubt whether the EC s sincerity to improve the electoral process and restore the public confidence. Transparency of the EC s conduct The EC did not show transparency with its conduct of election. The procedure of the new measures which were implemented in this election was unclear and sometimes confusing. In the case of advance voting, the EC had said that the party agent are allowed to stay overnight in the police lockup which was used to keep the ballot boxes of advance voting provided that they abide to the police lock up rules. However, we have noticed that the party agents were not allowed to stay in the police lockup to watch over the ballot boxes. This has raised doubt whether the ballot papers were being tampered with, as the advance voting were carried out five days before the polling day. The counting of the advance voting ballots only began on 4pm on May 5. In the case of overseas voting, the voters as well as the Malaysian envoy overseas were unclear of the process and generated confusion, such as the procedure to register as overseas voter. Many envoys were not briefed on the procedures after the EC announced that overseas voting will be implemented in this election. 12

16 In 2011, the EC had submitted a proposal to improve electoral system to the government but refused to reveal details when requested, citing the Official Secret Act 24. Overseas observers Election observation is also an important part in electoral process; it lends credibility to the election results. In this election, the EC invited friendly observer from ASEAN countries to observe the process of the election. However, the EC had rejected some foreign observers, such as Muslim American Election Observers Committee delegation to Malaysia as international observer 25. The shortcomings of the EC discussed above, is draining the much needed public confidence. The Federal Constitution Article 114 (2) stipulates that in appointing members of the Election Commission, the Yang di-pertuan Agong shall have regard to the importance of securing an Election Commission which enjoys public confidence. 13

17 SECTION 5: GROUND OBSERVATION FINDINGS During the course of the observation process, we made the following key discoveries: Nomination Day Campaign Period and Election Day 5.1. Nomination day observations Merdeka Center deployed 70 observers who viewed nomination day proceedings in 70 parliamentary districts in Peninsular Malaysia on the morning of April 20th There was no major untoward incident reported by our observers except for the state constituency of Sungai Acheh in Penang where PAS supporters tried to halt PKR candidate Badrul Hisham Shaharin from submitting his nomination papers. General Observations Overall we found that the situation at all of the 72 observed nomination centers to be orderly and professionally conducted by the EC personnel and appointees. 70 out of the 72 nomination centers we observed opened at the designated time of 9:00am In 67 out of 72 locations, most political party supporters remained within the clearly marked restriction zones located 50 meters from the nomination center entrances and Public order officials in the form of Malaysian Police and RELA were present to maintain public order. Exceptions In five locations, the distance between political party supporters were closer to the building where nomination took place than the 50-meter limit. In one instance, Titiwangsa, we noted that the 50 meter line was calculated from the main entrance of the school complex, however the hall where nomination took place was located along the perimeter wall near the restriction line for BN supporters Our observers were at first not allowed to enter the nomination at two locations: Lumut, Perak and Kuala Selangor, Selangor by the officials there. They were eventually allowed after persuasion Some candidates and their accompanying personnel entered the nomination center with shirts bearing party logos; this affected both BN and PR candidates Campaign period observations During the official campaign period, our observers filed 847 reports detailing the events and activities they had attended. Most of these events were public events where political candidates or 14

18 representatives of the contesting political parties engaged the public through public speaking events, group prayers, meals or meetings (planned or impromptu). Pre-Campaign Activities We note that the country had been in a heightened state of anticipation of the elections for over two years; political parties and key personalities had been on a national campaign mode for at least over one year. Of note, both BN and PR had been organizing large mass rallies since mid 2012 in the form of the Janji Ditepati (Promises Fulfilled) and Merdeka Rakyat (People s Freedom) rallies. Other campaign activities include the Green rallies held by environmental groups in Pahang and Johor, as well as the Orange rallies/campaign events held by groups campaigning against the FELDA settlement programs. There were several incidents of violence involving these events between supporters of the BN and the PR resulting in damage to vehicles, scuffles between supporters as well as injuries. Some notable incidents include: One person attending PR event was stabbed in Gombak 26 Rocks and objects were hurled at audience watching political speeches by PR leaders in Lembah Pantai 27, Bukit Katil Melaka 28 and Rocks and objects were hurled at vehicles and the PKR campaign bus. Official Campaign Activities During the official campaign between April 20 and May 4th 2013, our observers noted the following highlighted incidents: Involvement of children: There were four recorded incidents involving children in political campaign activities. Three of these were in BN events and one was in a PR event. In these instances, children were seen wearing clothing bearing political party logos, in one instance children was used to collect donations, in two other examples, children were waving and installing party flags Utilization of government assets and property: There were nineteen recorded instances of government assets being used during political party events. Most events involved the use of government equipment such as public address systems, tents and premises (e.g. Water Supply Department office in Kuala Kangsar, district council tents, schools and halls). 16 of these events involved BN, 2 related to PR and one involved an independent candidate Undue influence: There were 22 recorded instances of undue influence recorded by our observers. 10 events involved BN and 12 involved PR. Some notable BN incidents included the screening of a film on the May 13th 1969 incident and films of rioting in other countries during an event with the Terengganu State Education Director and District Women Teachers Meeting in Kuala Terengganu; in Bukit Katil, Melaka, one speaker made claims about sex videos involving PR leaders, in Sungai Siput, Perak, motorcyclists wearing BN logos were seen riding noisily near a PR public speaking event potentially provoking the crowd before fleeing upon the arrival of police in the area. Most of the twelve PR events observed involved speeches criticizing the premier s spouse about her spending habits and that of the 15

19 corruption scandals implicating those close to the political leadership. In addition to speeches, our observers also collected printed materials which attempted to portray the DAP as being anti-malay and anti-muslim, a booklet portraying various Opposition leaders in negative light and a pamphlet which states that the Opposition would remove special Malay rights and various Islamic and Bumiputera institutions Treating/Gifting: Our observers recorded at least 67 cases of treating during the course of the short campaign period. 44 of these involved BN, 22 involved PR and one affected by an independent candidate. The majority of these cases involved hosting feasts and meals to voters, handing out gifts (foodstuff, appliances, etc) and various election paraphernalia such as clothing, headwear, etc. There was also one instance of cash being handed to former tobacco growers by the National Tobacco Board and Political violence: During the course of the election, our observers noted a few instances of intimidation and provocation, but we are uncertain if it led to the filing of police reports. Local newspapers reported that there were more than one thousand cases of violence during the first week of the campaign alone. These includes cases where petrol bombs were thrown into a BN operation center in Sekinchan, Selangor and Jelapang, Perak; torching of a car belonging to a PKR candidate as well as paint smeared on a car belonging to a PAS campaigner in Johor Overseas voting observations Recognizing the rising number of Malaysian voters abroad, Merdeka Center expanded its observation mandate towards overseas voting which took place in Malaysian High Commission and Consulates around the world on 28 April With the official approval from the EC on 1 April 2013 to further carry out overseas observation duty, 21 volunteers were recruited as observers within the allocated time frame. Exceptions Inconsistency: There were cases where procedures were not carried out accordingly. For example: In Melbourne, Postal Voting Clerk (PVC) called out the names and IC numbers of voters in Room 1 but this procedure did not appear to take place in Room 2. Furthermore, in Room 1, the Consular General who was the witness, stepped up to verbally advise voters on the correct procedures whereas the witness in Room 2 merely pointed out to the information poster on the wall Security: Observers from Melbourne, Switzerland, and Los Angeles had raised the issue of observers prohibited from seeing the sealing of postal ballot bags into the diplomatic pouch Lack of coordination: A few issues to be raised are, for example, the amount of voters and witness provided (London & Melbourne); lack of coordination and organization which caused some voters to receive empty Priority Envelopes (Sampul Keutamaan) or different names on Form 2 (Paris, New York, Hong Kong, and Taipei). There was also a case of miscommunication between the EC and officers on duty at the respective missions abroad to solve emerging issues and 16

20 Lack of awareness: This section has three aspects. Amongst the voters, there was a lack of awareness on voting procedures and ethics whilst at the polling centre (Embassy/ High Commission/ Consulates), such as using their mobile phones to text or take photos (Melbourne). As for EC s staff, they were not informed or prepared on any frequent questions ask by the voters. This caused confusion not only on the voters, but the election process as a whole. Third, reports from London stated that campaign activities were held outside the High Commission compound. There were also sights of big vehicles with political party flags (BN and PKR). The general conduct of overseas voting was commendable but still, the security of the postal ballot bags remains in question due to prohibitions in our observations Advance polling day observations A total of 119 observers were at 62 parliamentary constituencies to monitor the first advance polling day. The venues covered were predominantly at main police stations and army camps. No major inappropriate incidents occurred during the day. However, we received 10 reports where observers were obstructed at the parliamentary constituencies of Kuala Kedah, Beruas, Jerai, Titiwangsa, Segambut, Kuala Langat, Lembah Pantai, and Bandar Tun Razak. Two of the reports at the IPD Jalan Tun Razak in Titiwangsa and the Dewan Serbaguna Balai Polis Beruas, in Beruas were subsequently resolved following escalation to the EC s Observers Secretariat. Some of our observers were allowed into the polling centre but were kept at a 50-meter distance from the polling halls, in Kem Hobart, Jerai and outside the main entrance at the Ibu Pejabat Polis Bukit Aman, Segambut. General observations: The conduct of the advance polling day was satisfactory. The overall atmosphere at the polling centres was peaceful Polling stations were adequately staffed with EC clerks and party agents. We observed party agents representing independent candidates were absent in 18 polling stations and Votes cast on this day are not counted on the same day but are sealed and kept at lock-ups. Votes were counted on general election day, 5 May Exceptions: Only 19 polling stations out of 99 polling centres observed, opened with some delay 10 out of 99 polling stations had polling layout which did not adhere to the EC s requirements. In one location, the position of the voting booth appeared to compromise secrecy of voting There were 11 polling centres which had cases of voters being turned away as their names were not found on the voters list at the main booth of the polling centres. These include; 9 voters at the Dewan Pangsapuri Polis, Jalan Kolam Air, Alor Setar; 3 voters at the Dewan 17

21 Serbaguna IPD Manjung, Lumut; and 3 voters at Dewan Sri Tanjung IPD Tg. Malim, Tanjong Malim Some candidates and party personnel entered the polling centre with shirts bearing party logos; this affected both BN and PR candidates We also noted instances that were potentially intimidating incidences towards voters at the various police headquarters used for voting. In one location, photographs of every voter were taken by an unknown officer bearing access pass from the EC. At two locations, police officers guarding the entrance to polling rooms were seen discretely recording the police registration numbers by sequence of attendance. Similarly, one location also had an online system linked directly to the police HQ in Bukit Aman (as per observers inquiry with the police officer on duty) again, where registration numbers of voting officers were keyed in according to sequence. One observer also witnessed a police superior instructing his officers to vote for Barisan Nasional but it could not be determined if this was spoken in jest There were also two incidents pertaining to the voter list. One report from the Balai Polis Simpang, Perak where a voter s name appeared twice out of 42 names on the list. At the Dewan Sri Tanjung IPD Tanjung Malim, Perak on the other hand, a voter whom had checked his polling stream at the main booth was turned away from at the polling station as his name was not found there Indelible ink took time to dry such that polling clerks provided voters with tissues to prevent smearing on the ballot papers. Our observers also alerted that the indelible ink had been washed off from the voters fingers the same day polling occurred and Packed ballot boxes were transported in unmarked ordinary cars but were escorted with police riders. Despite the smooth conduct of advance polling throughout the day, some exceptions do question the level of preparation the EC had taken for advance voting. Particularly, with regards to the preparation of the voters list, and the quality or adequacy of training to apply the indelible ink. The level of scrutiny posed by the superiors in the police force may imply undue influence considering ballots are not counted on the same day. One important point to note is that advance balloting took place only on one day, 30 th April 2013, where the ballot boxes were subsequently supposed to be stored in secure locations such as police station lockups prior to being brought to the parliamentary district vote tallying centres for counting on May 5 th Thus it is important that agents of contesting candidates were able to maintain observation of the ballot boxes at all times during the intervening five days and nights prior to Election Day on May 5 th 2013 so as to ensure that the boxes were not tampered or compromised. Our observers had no access to view the boxes during the intervening period. We view with concern allegations by several candidates 29 that their representatives were not able to fully observe the ballot boxes during the period between early voting and counting due to being prevented by the authorities or were instead placed in locations which prevented them from actually being able to view the boxes. 18

22 5.5. General election observations 164 observers stationed in 79 parliamentary constituencies covered at least 245 polling centres on this day. The general atmosphere was calm and orderly. Although other locations deemed as hot seats, had a festive atmosphere as party supporters were chanting and cheering outside the polling centres. In general, our observers received positive response from the Presiding Officers. Only one incident of observer obstruction was reported during polling station opening. Observers at seven polling centres in six parliaments were later not allowed to view the closing procedures. Whilst we acknowledge that the EC stipulated that observers were to refrain from entering the polling stations, we applaud the central EC office for making the exception to allow observation for the counting of votes. Despite differing instructions from the EC state offices, most observers, except for those who were at three polling centres in Jerlun, Kedah; Seremban, Negeri Sembilan; and Petaling Jaya Selatan, Selangor; were able to observe the counting process. General observations: The conduct of the polling day was generally satisfactory. Only 15 polling centres visited by our observers were deemed less than orderly. Out of which, two centres had incidences of provocation and hostility but did not escalate to violence following intervention from the police force and FRU Polling centres were generally well staffed by the EC and the coalition parties. Party agents representing independent candidates were absent in at least 13 polling stations Polling commenced and closed at the gazetted time for most centres The issue of voter impersonation by foreign nationals (phantom voters) had led to active participation from concerned local groups to guard some polling centres, also to the extent of apprehending such suspicious voters We noticed most party workers observed the 50-metres exclusion zone regulation where party booths were not allowed to be erected at the said distance from the gates of the polling centres and Polling queues were long at most centres. Few polling stations had split queuing lines into two. We observed some Polling Clerks 3 and Presiding Officers resorting to stamp multiple ballots papers in advance. Exceptions: Most polling stations, except for five in two polling centres, adhered to the EC proposed polling layout We had 12 reports from nine parliamentary constituencies where the conduct of security enforcement personnel at the polling centres could have been better. The issues ranged from the lack of police intervention in controlling dubious individuals from entering the polling centres and long absence of security personnel guarding the polling stations. For example, in Lembah Pantai, we noted party workers canvassing for votes were seen entering polling centres numerous times, each time carting in a different elderly voter on wheelchairs 19

23 There were 38 polling centres which our observers saw voters being turned away upon checking their names at the EC booth. 4 out of the 38 centres had cases where the individuals claimed to be existing voters (voted in GE12 in 2008) were no longer on the electoral roll. These occurred in Segambut, Kuala Lumpur; Nibong Tebal, Penang; Alor Setar, Kedah; and Lumut, Perak. The rest involved voters whom had gone to the wrong polling centres to vote We found several occurrences of election offences involving treating and bribery through hand-outs of refreshments and various campaign paraphernalia on Election Day. The degree of this offence was seen greater carried out by the Barisan Nasional supporters. However, the likely offence of transporting of voters occurred with both sides of the coalition parties. Cars emblazoned with party logos and images of the candidates have been seen transporting voters in several polling centres On the indelible ink matter, most observers noted that the ink took a long time to dry. Wipes or tissue papers were no longer provided by polling clerks. Some observers reported that the ink was easily washed off during the same day A majority of Presiding Officers observed did not prepare Form 10 (Declaration of Identity and Nomination) 30 on the assistants of disabled voters. This problem was prominent in polling streams with elderly voters. This increases the possibility for some voters to become susceptible to undue influence as their marking of votes were done by their assistants who are also party workers as from the two incidents observed in Lembah Pantai In two locations, Presiding Officers and polling clerks were identified to not have worn the EC uniform. Instead, they wore outfits bearing the 1Malaysia logo, a logo heavily used by the BN campaign machinery During the closing procedure, we encountered three Presiding Officers who insisted for everyone (including party agents) to temporarily vacate the polling stations in preparation for counting. These were at Sek. Men. Keb. Sri Pantai, Lembah Pantai; Sek. Men. Keb. Assunta, Petaling Jaya Selatan; and Sek. Keb. Seksyen 9, Shah Alam and A more serious offence concerning vote-buying, masked as reimbursement of transportation fares, were witnessed in three parliament constituencies. On Election Day, observers at Sek. Ren. Agama Sri Pantai, Lembah Pantai witnessed travel reimbursement vouchers worth RM150 being handed out to out-of-state voters that have come to check their voting status at the BN booths 31. While two similar cases that occurred a few days earlier were reported at the state constituencies of Tawang 32 (parliament of Bachok) and Bunut Payong 33 (parliament of Kota Bahru), both in Kelantan. This particular general election saw the highest voter turnout of 85% 34. The EC mobilized 230,000 polling workers and from what our observers had seen, the overall conduct of the day was considered smooth despite some minor flaws. In the week leading up to the Election Day, there was widespread concern regarding phantom voters 35. The increase in voter turnout may have transpired from this concern; with citizens heading to the polls to defend their votes. Others kept vigilant, guarding their polling centres from the presence of foreigners. There were four reports pertaining to this matter coming from the Lembah Pantai (2 cases), Kelana Jaya, and Kamunting constituencies. 20

24 At Lembah Pantai, citizen groups apprehended three individuals who looked foreign. Neither of these individuals responded when quizzed over their home address, hometown or the name of the current prime minister. None of them attempted to converse in Bahasa Malaysia or in English. All of them were eventually let off to vote as they all appear to have valid Malaysian identity cards with valid addresses. Our observers noticed that the addresses on the identity cards for these suspicious voters were in other parliamentary constituencies than where they voted. It was also seen that these individuals hold the latest identity card with ghost images, launched by the National Registration Department in early Post election issues Unreturned ballots A review of the official election results obtained from the EC website 37 revealed 26,773 unreturned parliamentary ballots (this excluded 1,306 unreturned ballots identified in the federal territories). Meanwhile, 25,428 unreturned ballots were identified at the state level. On polling day, both parliament and state ballots papers are issued to voters at the same time by the polling clerks. This issue should be viewed seriously as it is an election offence 38. When convicted, it entails a two-year jail term and a fine of RM5,000, or both. We also recognize it is the voters prerogative on how they wish to cast their votes. Nevertheless, it is worth highlighting that this issue occurred within polling stations which are under the purview of trained EC officers on polling day. Election result discrepancies The result of GE13 was gazetted on 23 March Upon inspection of the Peninsula Malaysia results, we have identified some discrepancies between the gazetted figures 39 versus official figures 40 from the EC website. The following tables show the degree of variances for two parliamentary samples (P159 Pasir Gudang and P101 Hulu Langat) and two state districts (N18 Hulu Kelang and N29 Seri Serdang) from Selangor. Parliament Constituency Results Ballots Issued Rejected Ballots Unreturned Ballots P159 Pasir Gudang Official Gazetted Difference P101 Hulu Langat Official Gazetted Difference

25 State Constituency Results Ballots Issued Rejected Ballots Unreturned Ballots N18 Hulu Kelang Official 40, Gazetted 40, Difference N29 Seri Serdang Official 64, Gazetted 64, Difference Polling day observations, controls within the counting and tallying procedures, as put in by the EC, should have produced consistent results. The figures would have been verified at least three times before official results were announced 43. We consider the sum of discrepancies to be minor and do not impact the overall results of the election. Further, at the time of reporting, the EC have yet to issue a statement clarifying these variances on the gazetted results. Without official clarification, the occurrence of these discrepancies questions the integrity of the gazetted results and the consistency of handling of these numbers from polling day until the time they are gazetted. It is important for these numbers to be consistent as the winners are elected to the government were determined from the officials results on polling day. 22

26 SECTION 6: RECOMMENDATIONS In general, we echo the PSC recommendations on electoral reforms. In addition we wish to highlight the following areas to improve the conduct of future elections. Strengthening the EC It is imperative that the EC strengthen its independence and more importantly be seen to be acting independently Improve recruitment and appointments. Recruit officials that do not have any history of being active in political parties or have a reputation of biasness towards any political party in addition to current requirements. Appointment of EC commissioners should be done by the parliament, shortlisted candidates should be subject to a transparent process that allows for public scrutiny before appointed as commissioners The EC should not be placed under the purview of the Prime Minister s Department but should instead be an independent body that reports to a bi-partisan special parliamentary committee Improve conduct of EC. Members should conduct themselves in a way that they are perceived to be non-partisan at all times Expand the Enforcement Team (PP-KPR), to curb electoral offense. They must have a stronger presence during the periods of campaigning and actual elections and Strengthen the Election Academy: Expand the academy s outreach to include voter education through marketing campaigns and public engagement initiatives. All elected representatives must be trained to fully understand the role of the EC and regulations governing elections. Improving the electoral roll This has been a main issue in the lead up to the 13 th General Election, the integrity of the electoral roll. The EC should revamp the current process to accommodate the realities of social mobility. The process could utilise current database technologies capable of handling huge amounts of data quickly and securely. This could enable fast address updates and execute instructions to detect duplicated entries and other irregularities These changes and improvements should be done with the participation of independent expert groups to ensure the new processes are legally sound and transparently done in a non partisan manner and The electoral roll should be independently audited on an annual basis. 23

27 Enhancing the election process The EC should clarify further the criteria for postal and advanced voting especially amongst the police force The integrity of advance polling ballots should be improved. Options to consider include counting of ballots on the same day, or improving security of the ballot boxes while allowing access to agents of the candidate to observe the boxes The EC should use vehicles (van/mpv) with official EC logo to transport ballot boxes from the polling centre to the tallying centre. The usage of random cars without official EC logo makes it difficult for party agents to ensure the safety of the ballot boxes. Police escort should be made compulsory when transporting the ballot boxes to the tallying centre Election observers should feature permanently in every election. The engagement of observers should be done according to internationally accepted standards and practices. The terms of appointment must be transparent and should be done as early as possible. Representatives of observers groups should be able to speak to media together with the EC and Election results made available public (online) should be more granular to include breakdown of results by polling centers and ideally by polling stream, for a truly transparent election. This enables all stakeholders (candidates and the citizens) to perform inspection and promptly channel feedback to the EC. 24

28 SECTION 7: CONCLUSION Our short-term observation of the election process, on the surface showed that it was very well executed where procedures were adhered well with no widespread problems. The EC s handling of election logistics was generally well conducted which reflects their administrative and technical competence. However, an election that was well run does not wholy imply it was credible. The ineffectiveness of the indelible ink and the lack of transparency over the management of critical election areas such as the electoral roll, postal votes, and storage of early polling ballots has adversely compromised confidence of the election results. This is compounded by the electoral environment that was an uneven playing field for some of the participants, notably the Opposition. Despite initiatives to improve electoral reforms and public protests, we noticed a number of factors contributing to this state. The first is the biased media coverage via federal television channels or the mainstream printed media. This is followed by the selective interpretation of laws and enforcement that have adversely affected the opposition more frequent than others. The third factor is the tremendous assumption of power by the federal caretaker government and their use of state resources for political purposes. The last factor, the close proximity that the EC has with the incumbent government and their adversative reaction to critics render the EC unable to change the overall perception that they are neutral. Hence, upon considering the perspectives surrounding GE13 and crucial shortcomings encountered in our observation, we conclude this was an election that was generally smoothly executed but compromised by some serious flaws. 1 Zolkepli, Loke, & A.Samy. GE13: Advance voting underway (updated). The Star Online 30 Apr Web. 10 May Section 9 Elections Act Section 7 Elections Act Section 15 Elections Act Section 16 Elections Act Election Offences Act Pragalath K. DAP ready to use PAS's moon and PKR's eye. Free Malaysia Today 18 Apr Web. 15 May Iskandar, Amin. No problem for the DAP to use rocket logo in May 5 polls, EC says. The Malaysian Insider 19 Apr Web. 18 May Bernama. 24 deals worth RM4.2b inked at Lima The Edge Malaysia 29 Mar Web. 10 May Begum, Maria. Najib to dissolve Parliament only after bulk of JUICY PROCUREMENT DEALS SIGNED AT LIMA?. Malaysia Chronicle21 Mar Web. 8 May Anand, RK. Ambiga: Four good reasons, my foot!. Free Malaysia Today 28 Mar Web. 20 Apr Teoh, E. S. AG: No caretaker guidelines, government briefed. Astro Awani 4 Apr Web. 2 May Woon, Leven. EC: GE13 not dirtiest, but the best. Free Malaysia Today 10 Apr Web. 12 May Shukry, Anisah. TI-M: Najib breaks integrity pledge. Free Malaysia Today 18 Apr Web. 12 May Centre For Independent Journalism, Malaysia. Youtube channel. 16 Pathmawathy S. EC is not Superman. Malaysiakini 5 Jul Web. 20 Apr

29 17 Kuek Ser, K.K. EC deputy chief booed in debate with Ambiga. Malaysiakini 26 Jul Web. 10 Apr. 2013, Kuang Keng & Pathmawathy. Ambiga grills Wan Ahmad in Round 2. Malaysiakini 29 Jul Apr Kuek Ser, K.K. EC deputy chief booed in debate with Ambiga. Malaysiakini 26 Jul Web. 5 Apr Kuek Ser, K.K. No way we can go against the system, says EC. Malaysiakini 29 Jul Web. 2 May Kuek Ser, K.K. EC rejects six out of 10 preliminary proposals. Malaysiakini 3 Apr Web. 20 Apr EC snubs Bersih again, calls Ambiga 'ruiner of democracy'. Malaysiakini 4 May Web. 18 Apr Wong, Raphael. EC cancels use of indelible ink. The Star Online 4 Mar Web. 20 Apr Pemuda buat laporan polis mengundi dua kali. (Youth make a police report to vote twice) Sinar Harian 21 May Web 25 May Kuek Ser, K.K. Ambiga challenges EC to set up reform committee. Malaysiakini 26 Jul Web. 15 Apr Chen, Shaua Fui. Polls watchdog: EC can ensure a free media. fz.com 10 Jan Web. 12 Apr Izwan. Md. Man stabbed at Gombak political rally. The Malaysian Insider 5 Dec Web. 20 Apr Lakshana, Meena. Hisham urged to act against political violence in Lembah Pantai fz.com 1 April Web. 18 Apr Chua, Sue Ann. PKR warns rising political violence. The Edge 8 Mar Web. 10 Apr Based on interviews with parliamentary candidates in Putrajaya, Kuantan, Setiawangsa and state constituency of Pangkor, Perak. 30 Section 19(11) of the Elections (Conduct of Elections) Regulations While the booth location is compliant to the 50 meters exclusion zone, it was set up within the compound of a private property. Vouchers handed out at the property were to be claimed for cash (ranging from RM150 RM300 per our observers inquiries) at a nearby unit of low-cost flat complex (Block B, PPR Kerinchi). 32 It was revealed that representatives from PAS and BN in Tawang had offered RM150 in travel compensation. Claiming from the BN required voters to proclaim a pledge upon the Quran that they vote for the BN at the state and parliament constituencies. 33 While the PAS representative offered RM150 for travelling, a reimbursement of RM300 was offered by the BN representative. Voters were required to provide their out-of-state address. Payment was provided via cash deposit into the voters bank account. 34 GE13: EC - Record 85% turnout ; BN gets 46.5% of popular vote. The Star Online 6 May Web. 10 May Cops say phantom voter IDs from old case. The Malaysian Insider 4 May Web. 10 May New MyKad tackles forgery. New Straits Times 4 Jan Web. 8 May Accessed 8-15 May Section 3(1)(h) of Election Offences Act &tarikh_pewartaan2=&cari=search. Accessed 8-15 May or Accessed 8-15 May Accessed 8-15 May Accessed 8-15 May Bagaimana kertas undi dikira? (How ballots are counted.) Accessed 23 May

30 APPENDIX 1: evidence of observation restrictions

31

32

33

34 APPENDIX 2: List of caretaker government offences

35 1. April 2 nd Najib announces RM1,000 bonus for 40,000 Petronas staff ( 2. April 2 nd Ministry of Housing and Local Government announces RM400,000 allocation for road and drain upgrades in Gelang Patah ( 3. April 2 nd Federal government allocates more than RM57 million for development of religious institutions in Kelantan ( 4. April 2 nd 345 fishermen in Pahang receive special boat licenses from state Fisheries department ( 5. April 3 rd Kedah MB, Azizan Abu Bakar, allocates 3,000 acres of land for the purpose of revenue generation for religious, Chinese and Tamil schools within the state ( 6. April 3 rd Perak MB, Dr Zambry Kadir, announced RM500 bonus for Perak civil servants ( 7. April 4 th - Selangor MB announces an RM300 bonus for the Selangor civil servants ( 8. April 5 th Najib announces 3 new projects worth RM8 b in Putrajaya ( 9. April 6 th 150 wives of veterans without pension to receive RM1000 from Sumbangan Veteran ATM Tidak Berpencen 1Malaysia (SVTB1M) ( 10. April 6 th Head of Malaysian Palm Oil board announces that the federal government has allocated RM902 million for small oil palm planters. ( ) 11. April 7th PMO announces RM 5.1 million aid for 98 Chinese schools in Kedah through Program Sentuhan Kasih ( 12. April 7 th Ministry of Rural and Regional Development announces allocation of more than RM60 million under house assistance program for the poor to be channeled through the GiatMara ( 13. April 7 th Deputy secretary of Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism announces 3 more Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia in Terengganu (

36 14. April 8 th Vehicles belonging to the Information Department were used to facilitate the opening of BN s election command centre for the Batu parliamentary constituency in Kuala Lumpur ( 15. April 8 th - Najib expands the 1Malaysia Privilege Card to 725,009 civil service. The card, which was launched in mid-march 2013 was originally meant for police and army retirees only. ( 16. April 9 th Najib officiates groundbreaking ceremony of China-based CSR ZhuZhou Electric Locomotive Company s RM400 million complex in Batu Gajah ( 17. April 9 th PMO extends nearly 50,000 contract workers in the National Unity and Integration Department for another year ( 18. April 9 th Muhyiddin pledges laptop for every student after meeting Tamil school teachers at SRJK (T) Simpang Lima ( 19. April 9 th Deputy minister of education, Dr Puad Zarkashi and BN s Batu Pahat candidate announces RM1.70 million allocation for 9 religious schools in the district ( 20. April 10 th Rais Yatim announces that it is ok to use state assets ahead of nomination day and gives RM20,000 to Karyawan plus 80 1Malaysia notebooks to street performers. Also announces that the ministry plans to come up with a special insurance scheme to cover street performers April 10th Chief Secretary for the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development announces RM1.2 billion allocation for Program 1AZAM ( 1AZAM) 22. April 11 th Pahang state government allocates RM175 million to upgrade roads from Kechau Tui to Kampung Relong ( 23. April 13 th BN candidate for Bera announces government s RM300,000 allocation to upgrade food court in pekan Triang ( Selera-Triang) 24. April 14 th Former BN Pengerang MP, Azalina Othman gives 58 fishermen nets for catching prawns worth RM400 each ( nelayan-miskin-terima-bantuan-jaring-udang) 25. April 15th - Najib announces RM 3.8million allocation for various groups from the Sikh community, including RM 1.69 mil for the Malaysian Gurdwara Council ( )

37 26. April 16 th DBKL removes opposition s mini flags in Bangsar s Lucky Garden roundabout ( 27. April 17 th 4,400 trainees from GiatMara centers across 222 parliamentary constituencies to aid BN campaign ( GiatMara-seluruh-negara-bantu-BN-sempena-PRU-13) 28. April 18 th Najib signs signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hindraf for the uplifting of the Malaysian Indian community at Vivekananda Tamil School in Brickfields ( April 18 th Najib launches affordable housing for Putrajaya civil servants ( April 18 th Najib announces specially-tailored financing scheme under 1Malaysia People Housing programme (PR1MA) for artists and arts activists. Also extends 1Malaysia Privilege Card to the group. ( 31. April 23 rd - The Association of Wives of Ministers and Deputy Ministers (Bakti) donates RM20,000 to Yayasan Gurpuri ( Yayasan-Gurpuri) 32. April 24 th Muhyiddin announces that RM3 million sports center in Jerlun alongside Mukhriz Mahathir, BN s candidate for the constituency ( 33. April 25 th Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad s visits Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) with BN candidate for Lumut, Kong Cha Ha while PR candidate and former navy officer, Mohamad Imran found himself blocked at the gates later that night when he attempted to perform prayers at the mosque within the base ( ) 34. April 26 th Najib pledges RM 5 million to Yayasan Artis 1Malaysia ( 35. April 26 th Muhyiddin pledges to provide an annual allocation for vernacular schools at opening of SJKC Aik Ming s new building ( 36. April 27 th - Caretaker Chief Minister of Sabah Datuk Seri Musa Aman gives out communal grants involving 25,896 acres of land to representatives 46 villages in Sook (

38 37. April 27 th Najib announces RM 8.8 million allocation to overcome water supply problems in Saratok, Sarawak. Also present were Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu and the BN candidate for the Saratok parliamentary seat, Tan Sri William Mawan Ikom ( April 27 th Najib announces that the cost of RM5 million which Chung Hwa Primary School No.2 in Kuching can be negotiated after GE13 ( 39. April 27 th Najib campaigning at the General Operations Force (GOF) northern brigade camp in Ulu Kinta here yesterday ( 40. April 27 th Najib announces expansion of the Kerian Hospital by an additional 200 beds at 1Malaysia People's Gathering in Bagan Serai ( 41. April 28 th Tabung Ekonomi Kumpulan Usaha Niaga (TEKUN) announces that it has allocated RM211 million to aid small entrepreneurs in Kelantan ( peniaga) 42. April 28 th Federal government promises further development projects in Bachok ( Jelawat) 43. April 28 th Najib approves RM500 in financial assistance for 5,400 families in Lubuk Antu ( 44. April 29 th Maximus Ongkili announces building of community college in Kota Marudu ( 45. April 29 th Najib announces the construction of a second branch of Foon Yew High School in Sri Alam ( 46. April 29 th Najib agrees to build a Tamil school and SMJK Confucian as well as a police station in Bandar Country Homes. Also pledges that houses at Bukit Botak will be sold at RM70,000 if Barisan regains Selangor. Announces that 2,000 affordable homes would be built in Ijok and a hospital will be constructed in Puncak Alam while opening a new block at SJKT Bestari Jaya. ( 47. April 29 th Sarawak Chief Minister promises RM36billion in development for state if BN wins ( 48. April 29 th Ministry of Tourism approves RM 10million allocation for implementation of Bakam Point (

39 49. April 30 th Najib announces that Han Chiang college will be upgraded to university college status, approves setting up another branch of Heng Ee High school in Bayan Lepas and contributes RM 2 million through the Yayasan Rakyat 1Malaysia. ( 50. April 30 th Najib promises to build 9,999 units of low- and medium-cost apartments in Air Putih, Air Itam and Paya Terubong through purchasing of land by 1 Malaysia Development Berhad ( 51. April 30 th Najib approves 50,000 units of affordable houses in Sarawak ( 52. May 1 st UiTM promised increased funding in order to build an additional college should BN be given the mandate to run the country for the next five years ( ) 53. May 1 st - President of Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat (SPAD) Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar gives our vouchers worth RM520 under TR1MA to 7,759 taxi drivers in Johor Bahru ( 54. May 1 st Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman, accompanied by the BN candidate for Kota Marudu, Dr Maximus Ongkili, presents communal titles for 4,707 acres of land in Kota Marudu ( Pic: ) 55. May 1 st Groundbreaking ceremony for the upgrading of Jalan Teringai in by Minister of Infrastructure, Joseph Pairin Kitigan, accompanied by BN candidate for Kota Marudu, Dr Maximus Ongkili (Pics: ) 56. May 1 st - Ground breaking ceremony for the construction of SMK Langkon building by the Chief Minister, accompanied by BN candidate for Kota Marudu, Dr Maximus Ongkili ( 57. May 2 nd Najib announces that donation to Chong Hwa school in Kuantan will receive tax exemption ( 58. May 2 nd Ground breaking ceremony of Kg Muhang Longhouse by BN candidate of Kota Marudu, Dr Maximus Ongkili (Pic: May 3 rd Najib pitches 3 new projects for Selangor ( ) 60. May 3 rd BN candidate for Kota Marudu, Dr Maximus Ongkili, launches community college (Pic:

40 61. May 3 rd BN candidate for Tanjong Karang announces new RM 300 million hospital for the constituency ( 62. May 4 th Najib officiates groundbreaking ceremony for UiTM Raub ( 63. May 4 th Najib announces RM20, 000 discount on Sime Darby s affordable housing project in Bandar Bukit Raja. Also pledges a new hospital in Kapar, to be built by Sime Darby, as well as upgrading of markets in Meru and Kapar, and construction of a building to house North Klang s district police headquarters. (

41 APPENDIX 3-1: B01 Candidate nomination

42

43

44

45 APPENDIX 3-2: B02 Election campaign

46

47

48

49 APPENDIX 3-3: B03 Opening

50

51

52 APPENDIX 3-4: B04 Polling center and voting stream environment

53

54

55

56

57 APPENDIX 3-5: B05 Closing

58

59

60 APPENDIX 3-6: B06 Counting at the voting stream

61

62

63

64 APPENDIX 3-7: B07 Overseas observation list

65

66

67 APPENDIX 4: GE -13 official result sample

68

69

70

71

72 APPENDIX 5: Candidate nomination 20 April 2013

73 P.067 Kuala Kangsar Bilik Gerakan Pejabat Daerah Dan Tanah Kuala Kangsar Photo 1. Supporters crossing the 50 meter exclusion. P.072 Tapah Dewan Merdeka Tapah Photo 2. The X sign on the banner appear before official campaigning period. P.072 Tapah Dewan Merdeka Tapah Photo 3. A photographer wearing a BN T-shirt in the Nomination Center.

74 P.072 Tapah Dewan Merdeka Tapah Photo 4. Party logo inside the Nomination Center Hall; with no intervention from EC officials. P.072 Tapah Dewan Merdeka Tapah Photo 5. Pictures of party leaders that have not been taken down at the Nomination Center Hall.

75 APPENDIX 6: Election Campaign 20 April 4 May 2013

76 P.067 Kuala Kangsar (27 th April 2013) Photo 1. Sample of MCA campaign advertisement in The Star. Photo 2. A child wearing the party logo in a campaign speech. P.140 Segamat (28 th April 2013) P.096 Kuala Selangor (2 nd May 2013) Photo 3. Defaced banner of contesting candidate. Photo 4. Banner mocking party and its candidate. P.073 Pasir Salak (3 rd May 2013) Photo 5. The contribution of money and t-shirta at a mosque. Photo 6. The contribution of money to children.

77 P.096 Kuala Selangor (2 nd May 2013) Photo 7. Postman caught distributing party phamplets. Photo 8. Pamphlets that been distributed by the postman. P.117 Segambut (25 th May 2013) P.106 PJ Utara (20 th April 2013) Photo 9. Dinner (treating) and campaign phamplets given to rally participants. Photo 10. Use of BN logo and 1Malaysia. P.074 Lumut (4 th May 2013) Photo 11. Lucky draw prizes organized by a party.

78 APPENDIX 7: Advance Voting 30 April 2013

79 P.120 Jerai Bilik Gerakan, Kem Hobart Unit Lapang Sasar Photo 1. Observers are not allowed to cross the yellow line in contrast to instructions issued by the EC. P.119 Titiwangsa 119/00/01 Bilik Mesyuarat Balai Polis Jalan Tun Razak Kuala Lumpur Photo 2. Computer screen showing the online system tracking the attendance of voters in sequence.

80 APPENDIX 8: Election Day 5 May 2013

81 P.109 Kapar 109/42/11 Sek. Ren. Agama Bukit Kapar Barat Photo 1. Voters used umbrellas with the party logo into the polling center compound. Photo 2. A car (bearing party logo) transporting voters into the compound of the polling center. P.121 Lembah Pantai Sek. Men. Keb. Seri Pantai P.146 Muar 146/15/11 Sek. Jenis Keb. ( Cina ) Chi Sin Photo 3. 1Malaysia logo on the shirt of the Presiding Officer in Stream 8. Photo 4. Smearing of indelible ink on voter s fingers; suggesting slow drying process. P.146 Muar 146/16/09 Sek. Men. Keb. Seri Menanti P.104 Kelana Jaya 104/32/03 Sek. Keb. Kelana Jaya 1 & 2 Photo 5. Photos of the party leader at a polling center. Photo 6. Photos of the party leaders within a polling stream.

82 P.106 Petaling Jaya Utara 059/13/13 Sek. Keb. Changkat Ibol P.106 Petaling Jaya Utara Sek. Men. Keb. Sri Permata Jalan SS 3/98 Photo 7 and 8. Polling booths that do not meet the secrecy requirements. P.022 Pasir Mas 022/11/13 Sek. Keb. Othman Talib (1) P.146 Muar 146/15/11 Sek. Jenis Keb. ( Cina ) Chi Sin Photo 9. 1Malaysia logo at outside the polling stream. Photo 10. A polling stream entrance which is not wheelchair friendly. P.146 Muar 146/16/12 Sek. Keb. Orang Kaya Ali P.121 Lembah Pantai Photo 11. Long queuing lines of voters checking their names at the EC booth. Photo 12. Party workers distributing free ice cream to the public outside polling center.

83 P.146 Muar 146/15/11 Sek. Jenis Keb (Cina) Chi Sin P.146 Muar 146/16/12 Sek. Keb. Orang Kaya Ali Photo 13. BN and PR workers canvassing at the entrance of the polling station. P.121 Lembah Pantai Photo 14. Scenes at the party booth located in Lembah Pantai where vouchers from transportation claims are handed out on the background. Other pictures show documents provided to be exchanged for cash at another location.

84 APPENDIX 9: Photos of caretaker government offences

85 Photo 1. Najib officiates groundbreaking ceremony for UiTM Raub Photo 2. Muhyiddin and Segamat parliamentary candidate Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam chatting with residents after the launch of the 1Malaysia Support For Housewives (1MS4HW) and Karnival Azam Kerja 1Malaysia at Dataran Segamat in Johor.

86 Photo 3. Vehicles belonging to the Information Department were used to facilitate the opening of BN s election command centre for the Batu parliamentary constituency in Kuala Lumpur