Petition to Repeal Section 9A of the Elections Act 1958 - FOREVER CHEATING! Wan Ahmad and the ECs electoral charade

7/28/2019 Petition to Repeal Section 9A of the Elections Act 1958 - FOREVER CHEATING! Wan Ahmad and the ECs electoral charade

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Wan Ahmad and the ECs

electoral charade - Charles

SantiagoJULY 21, 2013LATEST UPDATE: JULY 21, 2013 09:45 AM

Last Thursday, my colleagues and I launched the Mansuhkan 9A online petition

campaign to demand for the removal of Section 9A from the Elections Act 1958.

Within a couple of days, the campaign has gathered over 600 signatures and the

momentum is continuing to grow.

Yesterday, the Election Commissions (EC) deputy chairperson, Wan Ahmad Wan

Omar was quoted as saying that, Section 9A is needed to prevent people from

stalling the electoral process by challenging the electoral roll.

Wan Ahmads justification is a charade.

Clearly, Wan Ahmad prefers Section 9A to be maintained as it gives the EC absolute

powers in controlling the electoral roll.

Wan Ahmads statement also further confirms that the EC will not allow any

cleaning-up of fraudulent voters in the electoral roll as Section 9A prohibits judicial

oversight.

More disturbingly, the EC is willing to conduct an election even though they are

aware that there are fraudulent names in the electoral roll.

This is nothing new.

Last year, when I raised the case of Dinesh Kumar, a Klang resident who was

registered fraudulently as a voter without his consent and knowledge by an Umno

deputy registrar (the Selangor state EC even admitted this), Wan Ahmad replied that

the issue was not a big deal and we should not create such a fuss about it.

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Malaysians have enough of senseless statements from Wan Ahmad and the EC.

I reiterate that Section 9A is undemocratic. It is a key obstacle towards a free and fair

election. And it prevents judicial oversight over a fraudulent electoral roll.

I call on the EC to support the call to abolish Section 9A. Otherwise, it would be

tantamount to them defending phantom voters and an admission that EC is against

free and fair elections.

I urge fellow Malaysians to sign the Mansuhkan 9A campaign petition. If the EC

cannot ensure a free and fair election, we have no choice but to do it ourselves.

The petition is accessible at www.mansuhkan9A.com. - July 21, 2013.

* Charles Santiago is the Klang MP.

Petition to Repeal Section

9A of the Elections Act

1958

Section 9A of the Elections Act 1958 stipulates that:

After an electoral roll has been certified or (and) re-

certified, as the case may be, and notice of the

certification or (and) re-certification has been published in

the Gazette as prescribed by regulations made under thisAct, the electoral roll shall be deemed to be final and

binding and shall not be questioned or appealed

against in, or reviewed, quashed or set aside by,

any court.

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This in substance means that once an electoral roll is

gazetted, it cannot be challenged in court. The

Election Commission has absolute power in controlling

the electoral roll and cannot be challenged, even in the

presence of elements of fraud legally proven or admission

of irregularity by the Election Commission itself.

Section 9A is an ouster clause, i.e. it prevents members of

the public the right to have decisions reviewed by the

courts. Citizens must be allowed to assert their right and

challenge the electoral roll if it is suspected to have

discrepancies.

Section 9A was controversially introduced by the BarisanNasional-led government after the landmark Likas by-

election case. In 2001, the Kota Kinabalu High Court had

found the Likas constituency electoral roll to be flawed, as

it contains phantom voters, and hence declared the 1999

constituency polls to be null and void, or tainted with

fraud.

We call on the government to repeal Section 9A as it

is unconstitutional. It is hindrance towards a free and

fair election, undemocratic, and prevents the judiciary

from discharging its independent role under the doctrine

of the Separation of Powers as arbiters of rights and

duties.

To:

Government of Malaysia

We request for the immediate abolishing of Section 9A of the

Elections Act 1958.

It is hindrance towards a free and fair election, undemocratic,

and prevents the judiciary from discharging its independent

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role under the doctrine of the Separation of Powers as arbiters

of rights and duties.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

EC, just say Section 9A helps gov't to cheat

YOURSAY 'Wan Ahmad, your job is to ensure the elections are fair and just,not to complete them as fast as possible.'

EC: Section 9A needed to prevent election delays

Hello: Election Commission (EC) deputy chairperson Wan Ahmad Wan Omaris talking nonsense.

Section 9A was legislated only after the Likas court challengefollowing the1999 election. Prior to this, elections were held without this clause since

Independence in 1957.

So what is the rationale that elections cannot be held without this clause?

Aries46: According to Wan Ahmad's rationale whatever the dismal condition

of the electoral roll, it should not be challenged because elections must beheld within 60 days.

In other words, it is alright if the electoral roll contains the names of

unidentifiable, undetectable and illegal immigrant voters, so long as theelections are held within 60 days.

His contentions amount to that the electoral roll will never be clean and assuch will always be subject to challenge. Why couldn't the EC be proactiveand clean up the rubbish and attend promptly to any inquiries or complaintsrelated to the electoral roll in order to prevent any challenge?

For all the loose talk of the EC deputy head, he has not even respondedsatisfactorily to the demands of Bersih 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0, including that of the

parliamentary select committee.

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If the electoral roll is squeaky clean as he claims, why is he clinging on to

Section 9A? Unless there are dubious reasons that he is privy to.

View Point Only fools would give such an answer. Wan Ahmad should justsay that Section 9A helps the ruling government to cheat in the elections.

Kim Quek: Section 9A was enacted immediately after the Likas judgment,

where thousands of phantom voters were confirmed to be present in theLikas constituency alone.

It is crystal clear that this law was introduced to ensure the hundreds ofthousands of phantom voters existing then as well as those yet to be createdto enjoy protection from being expunged through the legal process.

No democracy in the world has such a ridiculously undemocratic law. It

violates the fundamental democratic principles of our constitution, and

should have been declared null and void through a judicial review long ago.

KiaSi-SiamSai: How silly - if the electoral roll is clean, then who would want

to challenge it? The entire EC team is a joke.

Onyourtoes: Whether we like it or not, Malaysia is still a nation of laws, withseparation of power, and checks and balance.

If we bar the court from scrutinising the electoral rolls, what does this make

of the EC and our judiciary? The EC would be enjoying absolute power andthe judiciary would be neglecting the doctrines of separation of powers and

the rule of law.

It would take a tyrannical EC and a nincompoop judiciary to interpret Section9A of the Election Act literally.

Why are you afraid of abuse of Section 9A of the Election Act to delay the

election? I am sure the court has the wisdom to circumvent that if there areattempts to do so.

Laws that preclude judiciary review are unconstitutional. Then again, anincompoop judiciary that readily concedes to the exclusion is a separatematter altogether.

Flyingeagle Hello, Wan Ahmad, have you ever heard of the word cut-off

date'?

Do your work diligently in a clean and fair manner, and if you don't like it,just do as what Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said - emigrate toanother country where your kind of reasoning is acceptable.

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Anomnim: Wan Ahmad, your job is to ensure the elections are fair and just,not to complete it as fast as possible.

Quigonbond: Wan Ahmad is essentially saying it is more important to havea timely but corrupted election.

Of course, he tries to justify that the electoral roll is clean. That is already afailed argument in the past and repeating it just makes more Malaysians

miffed with the EC because more and more of us have longer term memorynow, especially on such important issue as our right to vote for a government

of our choice, instead of letting foreigners decide the fate of Malaysia.

In fact, how EC goes about cleaning the rolls in an arbitrary manner isnothing short of disturbing. It is a fallacy that the federal constitution need to

be amended to facilitate the removal of Section 9A.

If there is a will, there is a way to resolve a challenge to the electoral roll in a

timely manner. The EC is just making one pathetic excuse after another, andis utterly failing to assuage majority Malaysians' anger towards them and thehighly unsatisfactory electoral process.

Lover Boy: What a lie. What about the case of K Dinesh- he neverregistered as a voter. When his father Sivakumar went to the EC office, yourmen agreed that some Umno chaps who were your staff registered him

without his IC.

Why was his name not removed then since your men cited section 9A thatthe electoral rolls once certified and recertified and gazetted cannot be

questioned? You people are a bunch or sick liars. Section 9A must berepealed.

Anonymous #85701391: Any statement coming out of this public servant's

mouth stinks. And yes, the EC has plenty to hide, if not, the whole bunchwould have resigned to prove they did not lie to all Malaysians on the

indelible ink issue.

Pemerhati: This is the typical modus operandi of Umno. When former PM DrMahathir Mohamad and Umno wanted to steal on a massive scale whencarrying out their mega projects like the North-South Highway throughnegotiated contracts, they enacted draconian laws like the Official Secrets Act

(OSA) so that the public would not find out how crooked and one-sided thedeals were, and how they siphoned off the people's money through the

contracts.

After the Likas case, when they realised that they might lose power if theywere prevented from cheating through fraudulent electoral rolls, theyenacted the 9A law to prevent the people from finding out the fraudcommitted by them.

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BN is now a minority, illegitimate government as it got fewer votes than

Pakatan Rakyat despite the massive cheating, and it will do everything in itspower to prevent anyone from finding out about the massive fraud it hascommitted.

They wield dictatorial powers through their lackeys in the enforcementagencies and the judiciary. The big question is how to remove this

entrenched, corrupt and thieving dictatorship.

Alanthechan: I am concerned and confused. It seems nothing can be doneto remove the EC chief and deputy chief in spite of the three Bersih andseveral rakyat rallies, which were public displays of no-confidence of the EC.

Is it possible to have a nationwide signature campaign for their removal to bepresented to the Agong as he seems to be the only one who is capable of

their removal since they were appointed by him?

Or this is also a futile attempt? The way the duo make their statements, theybehave as if they can never be removed.

CiViC: The general election is held just once every five years, and WanAhmad is afraid of delays? Talk about incompetence.

EC: SECTION 9A NEEDED TO PREVENTELECTION DELAYS

Section 9A of the Election Act is needed to prevent people from stalling the electoral process bychallenging the electoral roll, said Election Commission (EC) deputy commissioner Wan AhmadWan Omar.

If we open the electoral roll to be challenged, then when can we hold elections? he retorted,when asked at a press conference today.

He was responding to Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasans challenge to open the

electoral roll to the courts scrutiny if the EC hasnothing to hide.

Section 9A of the Election Act bars the court from scrutinising the electoral roll once it has beengazetted.

It was enacted after one such successful legal challenge in the landmark 1999 Likas electionpetition that saw the election results nullified over a problematic roll.

Courts have since used Section 9A to rule against any legal challenges to the electoral roll.

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Documents

Petition to Repeal Section 9A of the Elections Act 1958 - FOREVER CHEATING! Wan Ahmad and the ECs electoral charade