The value of your vote

Published by Free Malaysia Today on 17 May 2011. By Stanley Koh.

PETALING JAYA: Some say money is the lifeblood of politics. And as the general election draws near, some desperate politicians are doubtless asking themselves whether the price of votes this time around will be affected by the rising inflation.

Perhaps the following true story will give them some hints. It was related by someone—let us call him Musa—during an election campaign.

“Last week, an amazing drama unfolded when a politician tried to convince my neighbour to vote for his a party. When he realized that he was getting nowhere, he decided to use the power in his pocket. He took out a bundle of money and almost shoved it into my neighbour’s face.

“’How much is your vote?’ he asked.

“My neighbour hesitated for a moment and then grabbed a piece of paper. He scribbled something, gave the paper to the politician, and said, ‘This is the value of my vote.’

“The politician read what was written and then angrily squeezed the paper and threw it away. He turned to me and said my neighbour was being irrational.

“My neighbour picked up the paper and waved it at me, asking, ‘Am I being irrational?’

“He had listed all the family expenses which he said the government should have provided but had not throughout the four years of its current tenure. The list included expenses for health care, utilities, education, housing and social costs.

“He claimed he was not being irrational.”

This episode did not happen in Malaysia, but it might well have.

Money politics is one of the biggest obstacles to having a fair and level playing field in the conduct of free elections. It is illegal, but prosecution is almost unheard of.

Indeed, there is quite a widespread belief that candidates and political parties routinely break a slew of election laws, but prosecution is rare either for lack of hard evidence or because the government is reluctant to tighten campaign practices to accord with legislation.

Making elections

S Sothi Rachagan, an associate professor of law, has written that “widespread bribery, ballot box stuffing, repression and violence can result in stolen elections”.

He has also spoken of what he called “made elections”, which he describes as “less obvious but more insidious than stolen elections.”

Made elections happen when officials intervene to enable the system to favour of one set of candidates over others. According to Rachagan, these are minor interventions carried out skilfully at a large number of points.

“The officials do not block all opposition by sabotaging the nominations of all candidates. They merely twist matters a little in delimiting constituencies, dealing with nominations, giving facilities for the campaign, conducting the polls, inquiring into disputed cases.

“The sum of these cases should be enough to keep the government in power.”

Does this sound more and more relevant to the worth of your vote?

Perhaps a more pertinent question is this: Does official manipulation and lack transparency undermine the value and outcome of your vote?

Italian political scientist Giovanni Sartori thinks so. In Sartori’s opinion, election laws make up the “most manipulative instrument of politics”.

Experts in electoral laws contend that money politics is only one of the factors that obstruct free elections.

It is a common allegation in developing countries that the administration of elections is dishonest, incompetent and partisan. Although there are election laws to ensure fairness to all candidates, these are often negated by lack of monitoring and enforcement. Hence media coverage is lopsided and opposition parties are hamstrung by draconian campaign regulations while the ruling regime happily uses public facilities to its advantage.

Critics believe that the Malaysian parliament should review some of the existing legal provisions relating to the functioning of the Election Commission to inspire public confidence in its independence and the integrity of its decisions.

Some allege that things have worsened in recent years, with election fraud and malpractices becoming more blatant. They suggest that election monitoring should become a standard practice to ensure adherence to universal standards, methodologies and ethics.

Take care of your vote

In his book, Law and the Electoral Process, Rachagan cautions against assuming that the flaws in our election laws are all premeditated. He says many amendments were made on an ad hoc basis to deal with tropical problems.

Despite all this, the Malaysian electoral process remains robust, as reflected by the fact that up to 90 per cent of those eligible have registered as voters although registration is neither compulsory nor automatic.

Still, it cannot be denied that election laws are in need of refinement and the functions of the Election Commission needs to be reviewed.

Indeed, some would say that we need a complete overhaul of both the laws and the commission itself.

Until then, take care of your vote. It has great value.

Stanley Koh is a former head of MCA’s research unit. He is also an FMT columnist.