My office sent a letter to the Election Commission (EC) on 3rd October 2022 to request them to provide details of their preparations and plan to deal with GE15 if there is a flood during the election period including polling day.
Today, we are sending a follow up letter since my email to the EC Chairman and Commissioner did not get any response, not even an acknowledgement.
This is irresponsible and arrogant given that severe floods and the inability to mitigate the consequences, such as ensuring safe voting and transporting of ballot boxes, could change the outcome of the election.
The Commission’s plan, therefore, needs to be made public given that Parliament has been dissolved. And the country will go to the polls in the next few weeks.
Malaysians, especially senior citizens, need to be assured all efforts have been made to ensure that voting takes place in a safe environment.
The EC needs to explain its mitigation plans if voters are unable to go out to vote because their houses are flooded or fearful that their houses might be flooded or that roads might be closed due to the high water levels.
More than 50% of Klang Parliamentary voters were affected in the December 2021 floods, and most schools and halls were set up as evacuation centres for flood victims.
Most of the schools designated as polling centres were used last year as temporary evacuation centres. It’s therefore crucial the EC explains what would happen if the school has to be used as both an evacuation centre and a polling station.
How will the EC ensure that the ballot boxes remain safe and not tampered with if transport vehicles are abandoned due to floods?
How does the EC plan to deal with the situation of moving 1,300 Polling and Counting Agents (PACA) in the event of a flood? Will the transparency of voting be affected due to this movement of personnel?
The EC has an obligation to explain flood mitigation plans clearly to the rakyat. Unless of course, if there is no such plan in the first place.