Best polls ever? Rubbish, says Bersih

The Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih) has criticised Election Commission (EC) chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman for claiming that the March 8 general election was the best polls ever.
Bersih said that Rashid had failed to acknowledge numerous irregularities and the about-turn in the use of indelible ink had still cast doubt on the the fairness of the elections.
On Thursday, Rashid was quoted by the New Straits Times as saying that the 12th General Election had the least number of problems ever and was thus “one of the best elections ever”.
He hit out at critics for levelling accusations of foul play during the elections but did not comment on the amazing gains by the opposition.
“They (critics) found that everything was all right, but they kept quiet,” he added.
In its rebuttal, Bersih said the EC’s last minute decision to scrap the use of indelible ink to prevent multiple voting was among key issues that marred the elections.
“Despite the National Fatwa Council approving the use of the ink in August, EC did not made the necessary legislative amendments for the use of the ink,” said the coalition in the faxed statement.
Bersih reiterated their stand that the opposition parties would have performed better should the use of the ink be maintained.
“Thus the last-minute cancellation casts serious doubts on the legitimacy of the current Barisan Nasional government,” said the coalition.
Multiple voting
Four days before the polls, the EC scrapped the use of the ink on claims that there would be elements of sabotage by unknown individuals who would mark legitimate voters with the ink to prevent them from voting.
Until now, none of the alleged saboteurs have been brought to book. The EC had also claimed that barring voters with stained fingers from voting would be against the Federal Constitution.
Bersih also stressed that other demands made by the coalition, such as the ‘cleaning’ of the electoral roll, abolishment of postal votes, longer campaign periods and equitable media access, were not granted.
“Multiple registration of voters also cast a lot of doubts. Postal votes had also possibly saved Barisan Nasional in many ‘hot seats’ such as Setiawangsa,” added Bersih.
Previously, Bersih and several opposition parties had repeatedly challenged the integrity of the electoral roll which are peppered with names of dead or non-existent voters.
The fear is that such names would be used during the polls in a phenomenom known as ‘phantom voting’.
Royal commission
Another trend noted by Bersih in the past was individuals being registered to vote by a third-party, normally in unfamiliar areas, without their knowledge. One such case involved prominent blogger Ahirudin ‘Rocky’ Attan.
In view of these allegations, Bersih has challenged Rashid to support the coalition’s demand for a Royal Commission on Electoral Reform (RCER) to investigate the conduct of general elections.
Bersih said such a commission was necessary in view of Rashid’s own admission in January last year that election laws were outdated and should be subject to an independent body’s review.

tunku : i guess that the best ever poll for Bersih would be when the opposition wins the majority, until then polls will never satisfy them.we admit that there are some changes need in spr but it is not that bad as it has been accused for.