RECENTLY, we came to know the full cost of Sabah elections – RM130 million – which was released in a written parliamentary reply earlier this year. This reply warrants an important discussion about the election expenditure. Elections are costly affairs and due to an attempted political coup in Sabah amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, the Malaysian the government had to expend RM130 million for one state election. In this article, we will examine the rationale behind election costs and how the country’s election expenditure can be improved.

Understanding election costs

Fortunately, in this written parliamentary reply, the brief itemised expenditure of Sabah elections was displayed. Out of the RM130 million, around RM69 million was spent on rentals and around RM 39 Million was spent on “professional services, other acquired services, and hospitality”. In Tindak Malaysia’s existing research of past Election Commission (EC) election reports from 1959 to 2004, the presence of itemised election expenditure only reported for the 1964 general election, the 1967 Sabah elections, the 1995 general election and the 1999 general election. With this limited information available over the past decades, we were able to shed some light on election expenditure and evolving costs.

In our study, minor cost items in a given election would be small repairs, food and drinks, overtime allowances and travel, and associated expenses (each of the items constitute less than 10% of the total cost). Major cost items would be rentals (could be more than 40% of the budget) and professional services and other associated services (could be more than 30% of the budget). To make sense of these costs, we also need to delve into reasons why election costs are increasing.

From our research of election reports of the past and our experience as Pemerhati (election observers), the following are reasons why election costs escalate:

1. Increasing electorate, which results in
a. More polling districts (which defines where you vote)
b. More polling stations
c. More polling streams (saluran in Malay)
d. More polling staff

2. Increase in the number of parliamentary and DUN (state legislative assembly) seats

3. Increase in printing cost
a. Rising cost for ballot papers and other documents

4. Increase in petrol price
a. Since 1999, the EC has made polling a one-day affair for Sabah and Sarawak. This resulted in increase of rentals of helicopters, four wheel drives and boats

5. Increase in allowance for polling staff

6. Printing of new editions of election laws

7. Increase in purchasing cost for election materials (i.e. introduction of transparent ballot boxes, adaption to Covid-19 requirements)

8. Overall management of elections under Covid-19 pandemic

Before the pandemic, the average election cost per voter was less than RM100 for every by-election, with the exception of Cameron Highlands. For the Cameron Highlands 2019 by-election, helicopters were rented to bring ballots in from remote parts of Jelai to the final counting centre. Before the pandemic, the number of polling streams were increased under the direction of the reformist EC.

After GE14, the number of voters per polling stream was reduced from 750 to 600. This reduction in the number of voters per polling stream resulted in an increase of additional streams (where an additional polling stream would require employing four to five staff per stream). For every DUN and parliamentary by-election after GE14, 20 new polling streams were added to a constituency.

Moreover, the reformist EC, under the leadership of Azhar Harun, made great strides in improving voter experience. This translated into infrastructural improvements for polling stations and rental of golf buggies so that every voter (including individuals with disability and elderly) was able to access polling streams with ease. During the 2020 Kimanis by-election, the EC invested an allocation from the election budget to upgrade pavements in some of the schools (that served as polling stations). Furthermore, the EC invested additional monies in posting voting cards to every voter for recent by-elections so that the voters knew where to vote. We hope this disincentivises voters from entertaining political party hot booths (pondok panas in Malay) who are campaigning illegally on that day.

When the Covid-19 pandemic struck the country, the EC had to amend polling procedures to accommodate elections under such extraordinary circumstances. One of the tangible changes was

the reduction of voters per polling stream and this resulted in increased polling streams. Secondly, additional procedures to mitigate Covid-19, such as the presence of hand sanitisers and usage of gloves by polling staff, were added to the polling process. This also included amendments to the election training for polling workers. This explains the sudden spike in election costs for DUN level by-elections starting with the 2020 Chini by-election.

With all these facts in mind, we have a better appreciation of why elections are expensive in Malaysia (and also the rest of the world). Having said that, it is imperative that we explore ways to improve election costs both in terms of reporting and cost-saving measures.

Moving forward

We have a few proposals for the EC and our lawmakers for improvements in election expenditure. An important aspect in the conduct of elections is to ensure accountability and transparency of the EC in relation to election costs and expenditure. If one were to look at the EC website, one cannot find any annual report of the EC that explains how the annual the budget of the EC is being utilised or one that shows itemised election expenditure. Currently, the EC website at best just provides a very brief explanation via its press releases about the overall budget of conducting a general election or a by-election. Any existing online version of annual reports by EC (surprisingly, not hosted by the EC’s website) show very little detail of election costs for a by-election or general election.

It should be mandatory for the EC to produce yearly statement accounts with all the itemised expenditure of conducting elections in an accessible manner (i.e. via EC’s website). At present, it is already mandatory for yearly statements of accounts to be prepared by the Treasury for the federal government and for all yearly statements of accounts to be prepared by the state financial authorities for the respective state governments as provided under the Audit Act 1957 and the Financial Procedure Act 1957. This will ensure not only a more accountable and transparent EC but also enable the EC to justify any increases in the overall election expenditure. Some examples will include the increase in salaries and allowances for polling staff and EC officials.

Adoption of 1960s style of EC reports on election expenditure can be a start. If a proper itemised expenditure is displayed in public view, the masses will have greater appreciation of certain high expenditures required for elections. Moreover, they will appreciate the long-term gains of the infrastructural improvement made by EC on the polling facilities.

Election costs and expenditure incurred by the EC must be audited. At present, the Auditor-General is given important functions and powers under Article 106 of the federal constitution and the Audit Act 1957 to audit the accounts of the federal government, the 13 state governments, other public authorities and specified bodies. Public authorities have been defined under Article 160 of the federal constitution to include the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the ruler of a state, the federal government, the state government, a local authority, a statutory authority established by federal or state law and any court or tribunal other than the Federal Court, the Court of Appeal and the High Court. The definition of public authorities does not include the EC. However, according to Section 5(1)(d) of the Audit Act 1957, the Auditor-General can examine, enquire into and audit the accounts of any other body under Article 106(2) of the federal constitution.

Thirdly, we propose the proper codification of the law where usage of schools and public facilities (premises only) to be free of charge for the EC to use as polling facilities. At present, only Section 14(1) of the Elections Act 1958 provides that the EC may use schools and public buildings free of charge as polling centres. This means that the EC may still have to pay for the usage of schools and public buildings as polling centres during elections. It is proposed that schools and public buildings must be provided free of charge as polling centres as a way to reduce the EC’s overall costs of conducting elections.

Finally, it is important for the public to appreciate the efforts that the EC has carried out to improve voter experience and safety under the reformist EC since GE14. We hope our research and real-life experience as Pemerhati shed some light behind the high election costs in Malaysia. Some of these costs have laid the foundation of long-term infrastructural gains for the given community. However, we also need to stress that greater transparency in election expenditure reporting must be carried out.

As elections are an extremely important element in our democratic system, it is important for the public to know how the taxpayer monies are spent on the conduct of by-elections. A transparent and accessible reporting of election expenditure is one of the keys for better-held elections in the future. – February 24, 2021.

* Danesh Prakash Chacko is a research analyst and director of Tindak Malaysia. Fork Yow Leong is a Tindak Malaysia activist who specialises in law.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.