What if polls are postponed?

THE Opposition, concerned citizens and even the Malaysian Meteorological Department had warned against holding elections in this extremely wet season.

After all, in December last year, massive floods hit eight states across Peninsular Malaysia and left at least 54 dead and two missing. More than 125,000 people were affected. People were trapped in their homes or stuck on their roofs for days.

Taman Sri Muda in Shah Alam was one of the worst-hit areas with over 14,000 residents displaced.

Indeed, Selangor was the state most affected by the floods, recording losses of RM3.1bil, followed by Pahang with RM593.2mil and Melaka with RM85.2mil, according to the country’s chief statistician, Dr Mohd Uzidin Mahidin, who released a special report on the impact of the 2021 floods.

Negri Sembilan incurred a total loss of RM77.1mil and Johor RM50.1mil.

That was how bad it was, but the then Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, went ahead with the dissolution of Parliament, and the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma), which had been severely criticised for its poor response and handling of the 2021 floods, gave assurances it has got its act together and is locked and loaded to swing into action with relevant emergency agencies this time around.

Well and good as that may sound, several states have already been hit by flash floods and more than 2,300 people have been evacuated to relief centres. Even if the rain peters out before polling day on Saturday, the country’s 15th General Election (GE15) could still be affected if water levels remain high and thousands of people are stuck on roofs, in evacuation centres or just too traumatised to vote.

Ismail Sabri has said if the situation gets really bad, the Election Commission (EC) can postpone the elections.

Now how might that play out?

Under Article 55 (4) of the Federal Constitution, the general election must be held within 60 days of the dissolution of Parliament, which was on Oct 10.

Regulation 3(5) of the Elections (Conduct of Elections) Regulations 1981 states, “If at any time after an election is commenced it is shown to the satisfaction of the Election Commission that in any polling station, owing to any cause whatsoever the poll cannot be taken or has been taken but cannot be completed on the date determined under sub-regulation 11(5), the Election Commission shall, by notice published in the local area for which the polling station is designated, suspend the poll and appoint a fresh date for the poll to be taken or to be completed in such manner as may be directed by the Election Commission”.

What this means, according to my learned legal friends, is that the EC has the sole discretion to decide if it needs to postpone or even stop voting at a particular polling station. It is not for the caretaker PM or even the King to direct the EC to do so.

Theoretically, all voting can be suspended but it is unlikely that every polling station will be affected by floods.

Since there is no legal requirement for a minimal time for the EC to post/publish a postponement, all it has to do is to stick a notice at the entrance of the stations to say “Sorry, no voting today” or, should there be an imminent flood threat to the station after polling has started, “Sorry, voting has been discontinued, please go home”. I suppose the EC will also use mainstream and/or social media to announce any postponement in all or selected polling stations to reach a wider audience.

Now the question is, if the EC calls off voting only at certain stations, how will it affect the counting of the votes from unaffected stations after polling ends on Nov 19?

Regulation 25B on the “Postponement or adjournment of counting of votes” states: “Where at any time after the close of the poll, owing to any cause whatsoever, the counting of the votes at the polling station cannot be started or has started but cannot be completed, the presiding officer shall postpone or adjourn such counting, as the case may be, and forthwith inform the returning officer of the constituency and each candidate or his election agent or counting agent of such fact.”

The ballot boxes containing votes will be sealed and kept in the safe custody of the returning officer and 25B (4) goes on to say “the returning officer shall, after consultation with the state election officer, appoint a time and place at which the presiding officer will count the votes, and shall inform each candidate or his election agent or counting agent of such place and time”.

Since this has never happened before, no one knows if ballots from unaffected stations will still be counted on the night of Nov 19 and whether any results will be announced or kept under wraps until a new date is set to resume voting at affected stations.

Also unknown is whether ballots cast before voting at a station is stopped remain valid and only constituents who hadn’t voted can do so on the new polling date. The law is unclear on these points.

Now, if incomplete results are announced, would that influence how people affected by floods cast their votes at a later date?

Another point is floodwaters may not recede at the same rate in all places, so some polling stations may dry up faster than others and evacuated people can return home. Does the EC wait to set a new date for all affected stations or will there be different dates according to the flood situation in each place?

Interestingly, there will be a one-day campaign period until midnight before the new polling date so the candidates will still have a chance to woo, pacify, whatever, their barely dried constituents.

I reckon the EC is monitoring the situation very carefully but it must be very stressful for its chairman, Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh, and team who have to decide if they have just cause to create history by postponing a general election, as a whole or in parts.

If they do so to uphold a fair democratic process and for the sake of voter safety, they will have up to Dec 9, 2022, to find new dates and deal with all the above scenarios.

Not only will costs balloon in what is already the most expensive GE ever at RM1.1bil, it could mean a long wait for the full results of GE15. Can you imagine the suspense we will have to endure and the shenanigans our politicians could get up to in such uncharted waters?

All together now: Rain, rain go awaaay!

The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.