THE Election Commission has asked electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 to reduce from 109 to 38 the number of representatives it is sending to observe the Sungai Kandis by-election, due to fears too many monitoring officers may impede the voting process.

Acting Bersih chairman Shahrul Aman Mohd Saari said he was informed by the EC today that certain voting stations might be too small to accommodate all the volunteers from civil society groups.

“It should be about two observers (from Bersih) per voting station, but we are keeping the number flexible,” he said, after a meeting with EC officials at the commission’s headquarters in Putrajaya, today. 

“Where the station has more polling streams, we may have more observers.”

EC’s request would be discussed with Bersih’s steering committee, Shahrul said.

Other groups that have requested to send observers to the by-election are IDEAS, Suhakam and Invoke.

Shahrul said Bersih would have about two observers at each of the 19 polling stations. 

The group yesterday said it hoped to have more than four observers per polling station to monitor the by-election on August 4. 

The by-election was called following the death PKR assemblyman Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei due to lymphoma on July 2.

In today’s meeting, Bersih executive director Yap Swee Seng said he was informed by the EC that one of the conditions for the observers to be admitted into the nomination centre was that they would not be allowed to publicise the proceedings before the election was over. 

“We were told that if we were to publish our statements during the election, it would be unfair to the EC,” he said. 

Some events related to the election proper, including suspected fraud, could be publicised immediately, however, he said. 

Bersih was also informed by the EC that postal voting would close on July 21, or nomination day, and that the postal ballot would be counted on August 4. 

Sharul said today’s meeting was a far improvement over Bersih’s previous interactions with the election authority.

“Today is the first time since 2010 that we’ve met with the EC, where previously there were no replies,” Shahrul said. 

“It’s definitely a big step from the no response or no statements previously. Much, much better, although we are still keeping our guard. We are still seeking legislated institutional reform.”

Tomorrow will also mark a big first, when EC officers will meet up with Bersih representatives at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall to receive the watchdog’s 90-page 14th general election observation report, which lists over 1,000 instances of electoral violations. – July 12, 2018.