Malaysia’s electoral reform group Bersih wants Prime Minister Najib Razak to hold off polls until all proposed reforms have been implemented. The coalition of 62 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) also vows to return to the streets, if the election commission fails to clean up the electoral roll. This comes after a government report showed thousands of cases of multiple voters being registered under the same addresses. Amid swirling rumours of a general election in June this year, Prime Minister Najib faces renewed pressure to deliver on his promise for electoral reform. This, especially after a state-run agency’s report revealed more than 11,000 cases where multiple voters were registered under the same address nationwide. Of these, 820 cases had more than 100 voters registered under a single address.
The report has sparked public concern. The election commission has been accused of dragging its feet in cleaning up the electoral roll.
DAP youth chief Anthony Loke said: “We talk about transparent electoral process. It’s not just about indelible ink, advanced voting. Of course, those things are important but what’s more important and the more fundamental issue is the electoral roll must be clean. If it’s not clean, even though you have indelible ink, it will not serve the purpose.”
Full Article: Malaysia urged to roll out reforms before polls – Channel NewsAsia.