Election Commission of Malaysia

Election Commission of Malaysia (EC)

Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya Malaysia (SPR)
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Commission overview
Formed	4 September 1957 (1957-09-04)
Type	Regulating and conducting elections in Malaysia
Jurisdiction	Government of Malaysia
Headquarters	No.2, Jalan P2T, Presint 2, Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan, 62100, Putrajaya
Motto	Efficient and Transparent (Cekap dan Telus)
Employees	755 (2017)
Annual budget	MYR 48,634,000 (2017)
Commission executives	Azhar Harun, Chairman Othman Mahmood, Deputy Chairman Mohamed Elias Abu Bakar, Secretary
Parent department	Prime Minister's Department
Key document	Article 114 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia
Website	www.spr.gov.my

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Election Commission of Malaysia (Malay: Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya Malaysia), abbreviated SPR or EC, is a commission set up by virtue of Article 114 of the Federal Constitution for the purpose of ensuring fair and equitable operations in undertaking parliamentary and state elections in Malaysia.

History

EC was formed on 4 September 1957, under Article 114 of the Constitution of Malaysia, which empowers it to conduct elections for the Dewan Rakyat and state legislative assemblies.

At its establishment, EC only consisted of a chairman and two members – Dr Mustafa Albakri Hassan together with Lee Ewe Boon and Ditt Singh. After the formation of Malaysia in 1963 and the inclusion of Sabah and Sarawak, another member was added to represent the two states on a rotation basis. Datuk Abang Marzuki Nor from Sarawak was the first such member appointed.

A secretariat was also set up to fulfil the commission's functions and carry out its decisions, with a secretary made the chief executive officer. The first EC secretary was H. Cassidy.

An amendment to Article 114 made in 1981 provided for the new post of a deputy chairman, and Abdul Rahman Abdul Hassan was the first to hold this position.

Today, the EC has a chairman, a deputy chairman and five members, all appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong after consulting the Conference of Rulers.

Constitutional mandate

Under Article 114, EC is empowered to "conduct elections to the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of Parliament) and the Legislative Assemblies of the States". Under the Constitution of the independent Federation of Malaya, EC comprised one Chairman and two members, but after Malaya merged with North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore to form Malaysia, the membership was expanded by constitutional amendment to provide for an additional member from Sabah or Sarawak. A 1981 amendment to the Constitution added another member and created the post of Deputy Chairman.^[1]

EC has the power to delimit constituencies, revise the electoral roll of registered voters, and regulate the manner in which elections are conducted. Although the Constitution does not refer to EC as being a body independent from influence by the government or otherwise, constitutional scholars have generally considered the Constitution as intending to protect the independence of EC. Among other things, commissioners are protected by tenure, and may only be removed through the same procedure as a judge of the Supreme Court. The terms of remuneration of a commissioner cannot be altered to his disadvantage after he has been appointed.^[1]

Members of EC are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who must consult with the Conference of Rulers and appoint an EC which has the confidence of the public. Although the Constitution does not expressly require consultation with the Prime Minister in this regard, it has been argued that under Article 40 of the Constitution, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong cannot act on his own discretion unless explicitly stated; in all other cases, he must acquiesce to the advice of the Prime Minister, and as such the appointments to EC are made with the advice of the Prime Minister. Members of the Commission retire at the age of 65.^[2]

Functions

Apart from regulating elections, the EC's duties include reviewing the boundaries of parliamentary and state constituencies, holding by-elections and carrying out registration exercises.

It also collects information on newly developed areas to ensure a fair representation of voters in each constituency, promotes awareness on how important it is to vote and revises the electoral roll by deleting the names of those who are dead or have been disqualified.

On polling day, EC members and officers will be stationed at polling centre nationwide to oversee the process.

Controversies

The EC has been accused of being half-hearted in electoral reforms and in 2012, the chairperson and the deputy chairperson was accused to be members of the ruling party. Both individuals admitted to may have been members at some point, but the deputy chairperson later retracted the admission and denounced it as an attempt to besmirch the EC.^[3]

During the 14th general election, EC was accused of allowing gross gerrymandering and malapportionment practices by the incumbent government. It was also reprimanded as the ballot counting process was the longest in Malaysia's history, with the results still being streamed in after 4 a.m. MYT of the following day (10 May). EC has also been accused of making the election day on a weekday rather a weekend. It currently denies that it tried to stop overseas Malaysians to vote.

Chairmen since 1957

Notes and references

External links

• Official website