Questioning validity of identification tags

I ATTENDED a PACABA (Polling Agent, Counting Agent and Barung Agent) training session last month and one very basic fundamental procedure which the Election Commission has just “adopted” for implementation in the upcoming GE14 left me totally bewildered and utterly confused.

I was a polling and counting agent during GE13. Back then, polling agents and counting agents were told that in order to vote at any polling station, the voter had to produce his national registration identity card (MyKad) for official verification and that the basic information, i.e name and number, must tally with the information on the official electoral roll before they are allowed to vote.

On the off-chance that they lose their MyKad just before voting day, an official letter from the National Registration Office which would function as a temporary MyKad would suffice but this would be the exception rather than the rule.

I am aware that the Malaysian passport can also be used for the same purpose but I do not envisage many people using it in place of the more convenient MyKad.

I have been reminded since young that as a law-abiding citizen, I should have my MyKad on me at all times when I am out of the house. Failure to do so would lead to the possibility of being stopped and detained by the police for lack of official identification, etc.

For GE14, apparently the Election Commission has strangely chosen to expand the “acceptable documents” for voter identification.

I have been told that besides the MyKad, passport and temporary MyKad, the Election Commission has decided to also accept: “Any name tag or access card issued by any government department with the person’s name, MyKad number and photo” as a legal document for voter identification.

In line with this, the following questions beg to be answered:

1. Is a name tag/access card issued by a government department classified as a “legal document” recognisable in a court of law to be used for this purpose? If so, can the Election Commission quote the legal provision in our law books that says so?

2. I will presume that if voters have to resort to using their government department-issued name tag/access card to vote, it is because they do not have their MyKad with them. If they do have the MyKad, why would they need to use other “questionable” documentation? If they don’t have it, are they then not breaking the law and risk being detained by the police?

3. How secure is a name tag or access card issued by a government department? What security features do they have? If none, what is there to stop anyone from duplicating them for whatever purpose?

Registering as a voter and exercising the right to vote are the fundamental privileges of every Malaysian citizen. Thus, the necessary documentation required to ensure that each vote cast is done by a legitimate voter and not by an imposter or someone voting multiple times is of paramount importance.

If we mess up in such a basic matter as voter identification, the implications and repercussions can be horrendous for us as a nation. It may very well boil down to a legitimate government chosen rightly by the majority of Malaysians OR an illegitimate government who won by sheer trickery and duplicity in the electoral process.

I hope the Election Commission will be able to give a clear explanation for this change in rules on voter identification which is fundamental to the entire electoral process.

I sincerely hope I am wrong and that the procedure for voter identification has not been changed or expanded in any way.

As an aside, after the “delibly-indelible” ink fiasco during the previous general election (for which, incidentally, no one was held liable or accountable), you cannot blame ordinary law-abiding Malaysians for not putting their trust in it, whether painted or dipped. DRSMNG Subang Jaya