PETALING JAYA, Jan 18 — An electoral reform group urged 100,000 voters today to join objection hearings for the Election Commission’s (EC) proposed redelineation in Selangor, to frustrate what it alleges is an unlawful exercise.
Bersih 2.0 chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah said procedures require one spokesman and at least 100 signatures to endorse each objection, saying her group is aiming to collect these from 100,000 people to protest against the EC’s allegedly unconstitutional redelineation.
“While the second display of the proposed redelineation within Selangor has reverted to more or less the same boundaries that used to be in 2013, this does not mean that the current constituencies at both the state and Parliament seats are exempt of malapportionment or gerrymandering,” Maria said.
“It is the duty and right of the voters to protect and ensure that the strength of a vote is equally represented across Malaysia.”
She added that voters could support the move by signing up to be objectors, helping to collect the needed signatures, or volunteer as community representatives.
Bersih 2.0 identified 12 centres to serve as central collection venues.
The last day to submit objections is Feb 14, after which the EC will launch inquiries to discuss the contents of the formal complaints.
Bersih and various lawmakers have accused the EC of gerrymandering, which is the forming of electoral boundaries for the purpose of providing an advantage to a specific political party.
In this case, the claim is that the redelineation will favour the ruling Barisan Nasional in general and Umno, its lynchpin, in particular.
