THE Election Commission has published its list of recommendations for the delineation exercise in Selangor that critics claim will give Barisan Nasional unfair advantage in the coming general election.

The notice is published on its website and all major newspapers today, before it begins another round of inquiries into any objections raised.

“The EC will display the recommendations on the proposed re-delineation for Selangor for a month, starting from Monday (January 15) until February 14, at locations stated in a notice which will be published in local newspapers, for them to check and to make second objection.

“EC will also publish the notice at its website.

“A total of 2,078,311 voters in the current Registered Voters List which has been gazetted on May 13, 2016, is still being used as basis for the preparation of the proposed re-delineation,” said EC chairman Mohd Hashim Abdullah in a statement.

The first local inquiry session was held from December 27 to January 9, involving a total of 116 eligible representatives who were invited to voice their objections to the exercise.

Hashim said the EC considered all objections from the eligible parties and also evaluated the written objections filed by those who did not attend the local inquiry sessions before making any changes to the re-delineation proposals for Selangor.

“A copy of the proposed recommendations together with the plan of the Federal and State Elections Division for Selangor will also be displayed for the public during office hours on any working day at the locations stated in the notice.

“Any objection against the recommendations can only be made by parties permitted by the federal constitution, namely the state government, any local authorities where whole or part of its area included in the recommendations, or a group of 100 or more whose names are displayed in the current registered voters,” he said.

He added that the objection must be submitted within a month after the notice is published.

The EC’s first round of inquiry into objections to its re-delineation exercise proceeded without the presence of the Selangor government, which filed a legal challenge against the notice in October.

The Selangor government claimed that the EC had violated constitutional provisions, leading to a malapportioned number of voters in the proposed seats.

The state government also cited EC’s failure to use the latest electoral roll in its re-delineation exercise, adding the roll it had relied on was incomplete and inaccurate, affecting 136,272 voters in Selangor. – January 15, 2018.