On the surface, it seems that the 2nd Notice (or Syor 2) of the Selangor delimitation exercise which was publicly released on the 14th of January 2018 reverts the boundaries of the parliament and state seats in Selangor back to the boundaries used in the 2013 general elections. But a deeper examination of the polling districts that were shifted shows that the Election Commission is guilty of ‘ethnic gerrymandering’ with the intention of helping the Barisan Nasional (specifically UMNO) win back some of these marginal state seats by increasing the percentage of Malay voters in these seats and shifting non-Malay voters to safe Pakatan Harapan state seats.
As a result of Syor 2, there were six state seats where the % of Malay voters increased by more than 5% – N11 Ijok, N18 Hulu Kelang, N20 Lembah Jaya, N21 Chempaka (renamed Pandah Indah), N51 Morib and N53 Sijangkang.
In N11 Ijok, a seat which was won by PKR by 739 votes in GE2013, the % of Malay voters increased from 50% to 60.4% as a result of Syor 2 (See Figure 1 below).
Figure 1: N11 Ijok Ethnic Composition (GE2013 vs Syor 2)
In N18 Hulu Kelang, which was won by PAS by 2881 votes in GE2013, the % of Malay voters increased from 80.8% to 86.6% as a result of Syor 2 (See Figure 2 below).
Figure 2: N18 Hulu Kelang Ethnic Composition (GE2013 vs Syor 2)
In N20 Lembah Jaya, which was won by PAS by 8713 votes in GE2013, the % of Malay voters increased from 54.5% to 62.2% as a result of Syor 2 (See Figure 3 below).
Figure 3: N20 Lembah Jaya Ethnic Composition (GE2013 vs Syor 2)
In N21 Chempaka (proposed to be renamed as Pandan Indah), which was won by PAS by 9608 votes in GE2013, the % of Malay voters increased from 53.0% to 61.7% as a result of Syor 2 (See Figure 4 below).
Figure 4: N21 Chempaka / Pandan Indah Ethnic Composition (GE2013 vs Syor 2)
In N51 Sijangkang, which was won by PAS by 766 votes in GE2013, the % of Malay voters increased from 66.6% to 71.7% as a result of Syor 2 (See Figure 5 below).
Figure 5: N51 Sijangkang Ethnic Composition (GE2013 vs Syor 2)
In N53 Morib, which was won by PAS by 2942 votes in GE2013, the % of Malay voters increased from 62.5% to 73.4% as a result of Syor 2 (See Figure 6 below).
Figure 6: N53 Morib Ethnic Composition (GE2013 vs Syor 2)
On the other hand, N19 Bukit Antarabangsa, which was won by PKR by 4044 votes in GE2013, the Malay % has decreased from 57.1% in GE2013 to 41.6% as a result of Syor 2. Ironically, Azmin Ali’s state seat will become a Chinese majority seat (from 35.6% to 50.5%) if Syor 2 is passed (See Figure 7 below).
Figure 7: N19 Bukit Antarabangsa Morib Ethnic Composition (GE2013 vs Syor 2)
In N22 Teratai, which was won by DAP in GE2013 with a 13,646 vote majority, the % of Chinese voters increased from 59.0% in GE2013 to 62.1% as a result of Syor 2 (See Figure 8 below)
Figure 8: N22 Teratai Ethnic Composition (GE2013 vs Syor 2)
Finally, in N52 Teluk Datuk (proposed to be renamed as Banting), which was won by the DAP by 5391 votes, the % of Chinese voters increased significantly from 45.0% in GE2013 to 59.6% as a result of Syor 2 (See Figure 9 below).
Figure 9: N52 Teluk Datuk / Banting Ethnic Composition (GE2013 vs Syor 2)
When we examine these figures, we can clearly see can the only reason why the EC made these changes in Syor 2 were for political reasons which is to help UMNO in these seats.