Why Should Section 9A be abolished?

Legalisation of Phantom Voters

By charlessantiago On July 24, 2013 Add Comment

Section 9A is a virus in our democracy. One may ask what does 9A got to do with ordinary Malaysian citizens like us. Perhaps the most direct effect 9A has would be the legalisation of phantom voters, where the Electoral Commission has the absolute power to register as many voters as they so desire. As a result, we witnessed countless materials being circulated online reaffirming existing suspicions of phantom voters.

First of all, reports of eye-catching Malaysian names printed on MyKad such as Valintino Power Rengers, Tengkorak bin Buruk and Puasa bin Raya are at large. One may argue that such names are common in the inner parts of East Malaysia. Perhaps the Registrars did not see fit to advise parents against registering such names at birth under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1957, but names such as Skull son of Atrocity and Fasting son of New Year do raise an eyebrow or two. Closer to home, local Klang boy Dinesh Siva Kumar, 33, who has been residing in London for the past 15 years, was recently made a voter without his acknowledgement. He wasnt the only one facing this odd situation as we have received complaints from 10 other individuals who faced similar predicament despite living abroad for over a decade. Apparently, the Electoral Commission being crowned by Section 9A has decided to recruit knights in the form of the National Registration Department (NRD) and the Immigrations Department to join its roundtable, registering dubious voters and Malaysians who have been abroad over an extended period of time. Of course, the reasons behind these mass registrations are left to the imagination, but one things for certain. As long as Section 9A is still in effect, these irregularities within the electoral roll can never be challenged by anyone including the court. Whether the Electoral Commission legalises phantom voters or not is another chapter altogether, but ultimately with 9A, it is capable of pulling off such act with no one else to challenge the decisions that it makes. Ever since the Likas election result has been overturned by the court after the 1999 General Election, no case filed against the Electoral Commission in regards to irregularities of the electoral roll has been won due to Section 9A. Any organisation body cannot be given the power that allows it to be above all others. This absolute power can be abused to legalise scores of phantom voters, tainting our democratic system. In order to achieve a clean and fair election, Section 9A has to be abolished. Otherwise election results can simply be manipulated, thus robbing us the chance to choose our government as opposed to whats promoted under true democracy.