MERAP Final Report and Recommendations

The full report can be downloaded here.

The Malaysian Electoral Roll Analysis Project (MERAP) started in February 2012 with the following objectives: “to conducting a comprehensive analysis of all possible problems in the electoral roll across time and space; to highlight different areas of responsibility / jurisdiction of different government agencies pertaining to problems with the electoral roll; and to propose methods by which these problems in the electoral roll can be reduced / rectified”.

Gender Confused

The following are examples of voters whose gender in their IC does not match their gender on the SPR website (i.e. a male with an IC number ending with an even number, a female with an IC number ending with an odd number).

Same old IC

The following are examples of separate voters who share the same old IC number and in several cases, the same address.

• Old IC: 7863005
• B Leelambigay a/p S Batumalay (791008145444)
• Lakshima a/p M. Govindasamy (490101106264)

 

DOB mismatch

The following videos show examples of voters with ICs that mismatch their dates of birth on the SPR website.

• Liew Yin Lan
• DOB in IC: 371106 (6 November 1937)
• DOB in SPR website: 10 January 1919

 

'Kod 71' in IC

The following are examples of voters with Kod 71 ICs (indicating they are foreign born), with dubious names.

"Hodri"

 

Same name, same DOB

The following are examples of pairs of voters (different IC numbers) with the same name and same DOB.

• Fatimah Binti Abdullah (14 July 1946)

Very Old Voters

The following are examples of very old voters from the SPR website.

• Chiang Wai See, year born: 1899 

 

Same name, same address

The following is an example of two voters (different IC numbers) with the same name and same address:

Wong Wai Seng (871008085525 & 800411085535)
No. 22 Block C Taman Seri Ara

171,023 foreign-born voters in electoral roll (Malaysiakini: August 9, 2012)

12:36PM Aug 9, 2012

A total of 171,023 out of 13 million eligible voters in the current electoral roll, the largest number of them in Selangor, have the 'Code 71' in their MyKad, according to the Election commission (EC) chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof.

Election Commission explains 'recycled ICs' poser (Malaysiakini: July 13, 2012)

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng | 12:06PM Jul 13, 2012

One month after a political researcher discovered incidents of 'recycled identity cards' in Sabah, the Election Commission (EC) has finally came forward with an explanation.

Denial of voter stats sparks fears of electoral fraud (The Malaysian Insider: June 25, 2012)

By Shannon Teoh

Jun 25, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — The government’s refusal to reveal the number of voters registered by political parties has raised further suspicion of fraud in the electoral roll, a claim which has seen tens of thousands take to the streets in two mass rallies over the past year.

'Same voter or two different voters?' (Malaysiakini: June 22, 2012)

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng | 4:59PM Jun 22, 2012

Despite assurance from the Election Commission (EC) that voters having identical old identity card (IC) numbers are different individuals, political researcher Ong Kian Ming is still unconvinced and has furnished more suspicious cases.

EC: Duplicate IC numbers won't affect polls (Malaysiakini: June 14, 2012)

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng | 4:08PM Jun 14, 2012

The Election Commission (EC) has admitted that some voters share the same seven-digit identification card numbers, but these occurances will not affect the integrity of the electoral roll.

Voters with same name and address not 'clones', says EC (Malaysiakini: June 13, 2012)

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng | 12:57PM Jun 13, 2012

Two pairs of voters who share the same names and addresses in the electoral roll are actually different individuals, the Election Commission (EC) said after verifying this with the National Registration Department (NRD).

IC numbers don't match DOB? Still valid, says EC (Malaysiakini: June 9, 2012)

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng | 12:53PM Jun 9, 2012

Several voters whose MyKad numbers and dates of birth do not match are still valid according to the National Registration Department (NRD) database, said an Election Commission (EC) officer.

NRD urged to explain voter identity duplicity (Malaysiakini: June 7, 2012)

2:56PM Jun 7, 2012

After the Election Commission (EC) passed the buck to the National Registration Department (NRD), the department is now under pressure to explain the dubious identities of voters registered in the electoral roll.

We can't reject incomplete addresses, says EC (Malaysiakini: June 5, 2012)

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng | 4:17PM Jun 5, 2012

Election Commission (EC) chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof explained that the commission has no right to reject the registration of voters with incomplete and dubious addresses as long as they are in the record of the National Registration Department (NRD).

Bersih: Electoral roll needs immediate clean-up (Malaysiakini: June 1, 2012)

2:18PM Jun 1, 2012

Bersih says the Election Commission (EC) has failed to implement the coalition’s first demand, that is to clean up the electoral roll.

EC corrects yet another error in electoral roll (Malaysiakini: May 29, 2012)

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng | 10:47AM May 29, 2012

The Election Commission (EC) has corrected another error in the electoral roll after this was exposed by a researcher. Still, many questions remain unanswered.

Poser over army, police voters not irregular, says EC (Malaysiakini: May 11, 2012)

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng | 3:37PM May 11, 2012

Retired army and police personnel who are still registered as postal voters, as well as new army and police postal voters who are above the recruitment age, are not irregular, said the Election Commission (EC).

Wan Ahmad accuses Bersih of creating hatred (Malaysiakini: May 11, 2012)

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng | 7:57AM May 11, 2012

The onslaught against Bersih and its co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan continued with the Election Commission (EC) deputy chairperson Wan Ahmad Wan Omar accusing the coalition for clean and fair elections of whipping up hatred against the EC to win votes for the opposition.

EC: Check your facts (The Malay Mail: April 26, 2012)

Only 42,000 doubtful voters and not 3.3 million as alleged, says chairman 

Thursday, April 26, 2012 - 16:26

by T.K. Letchumy Tamboo

READ THIS: Abdul Aziz with the booklet which counters accusations against the commission — BERNAMApic

PETALING JAYA: Those who hurl allegations of dubious voters at the Election Commission should back them up with facts, says its chairman, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof.

Politically-inclined EC a mere tool of the BN (Malaysiakini: April 26, 2012)

Lim Guan Eng | 2:50PM Apr 26, 2012  

COMMENT The denial of the basic democratic principle of one person, one vote is another reason, apart from phantom voters and irregularities in the electoral roll, why Malaysians should mobilise in full force for the Bersih sit-in protest at Dataran Merdeka from 2pm on Saturday.

EC still lacks staff to check irregularities (Free Malaysia Today: April 25, 2012)

Tarani Palani | April 25, 2012

Its deputy chairman says the EC is still determined to fix the problems despite the handicap.

PETALING JAYA: The Election Commission (EC) still lacks personnel to overlook the cleaning up of the electoral roll with its 12.6 million voters.

Malaysia moves to reform election system (Malaysiakini: April 25, 2012)

John Grafilo, dpa | 11:46AM Apr 25, 2012 

ANALYSIS Malaysia has taken steps to reform its electoral system, in response to complaints of fraud and manipulation ahead of elections expected this year, but critics say the initiatives are not enough to ensure a fair vote.

'Electoral roll rife with errors' (The Malay Mail: April 24, 2012)

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 - 16:16

by Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani 

KUALA LUMPUR: The actual number of dubious voters was 78 times more than the 42,000 figure given by Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof, the Malaysian Electoral Roll Analysis Project (Merap) discovered.

Independent monitors find fault with EC (The Sun Daily: April 24, 2012)

Posted on 24 April 2012 - 05:25am
Last updated on 24 April 2012 - 10:05am 

KUALA LUMPUR (April 23, 2012): An independent electoral monitoring group claimed the Election Commission (EC) had failed to include a 10-year research conducted by the National Registration Department as part of its mandate to clean up the electoral roll.

3.3 million problematic voters in electoral roll (Malaysiakini: April 23, 2012)

S Pathmawathy | 1:15PM Apr 23, 2012

There are 3.3 million cases of dubious voters in the electoral roll, claimed researcher Ong Kian Ming, a large chunk of which is made up of those voting in constituencies different from the addresses shown on their identification cards (MyKad).

Watchdog: Electoral roll smirched with inconsistencies (The Malay Mail: April 23, 2012)

Monday, April 23, 2012 - 14:29

by Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani 

KUALA LUMPUR: The actual number of dubious voters was 78 times more than the 42,000 figure given by the Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof, says the Malaysian Electoral Roll Analysis Project (Merap).

3.1m dubious voters on list for a decade, says Bersih (The Malaysian Insider: April 23, 2012)

By Shannon Teoh

Apr 23, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, April 23 — Bersih accused the Election Commission (EC) today of failing to investigate 3.1 million voters whose identity card (IC) addresses differ from that in the electoral roll despite having the information since 2002.

400,000 dubious voters may decide 35 seats, GE winner, says polls analyst (The Malaysian Insider: April 10, 2012)

By Shannon Teoh

Apr 10, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 — Over 400,000 dubious voters are on the electoral roll, enough to swing 35 federal seats either way and decide if Pakatan Rakyat (PR) can capture Putrajaya or Barisan Nasional (BN) reclaim its customary two-thirds supermajority in Parliament, according to a polls analysis.

Bersih shows how a voter can be 'cloned' (Malaysiakini: April 4, 2012)

Koh Jun Lin | 4:38PM Apr 4, 2012

In the run-up to the announcement of Bersih 3.0, steering committee member and political scientist Wong Chin Huat revealed more instances of “cloned” voters, which he alleged were phantom voters.

The strange case of recycled ICs in Sabah

Ong Kian Ming | 8:19AM Jun 14, 2012 

COMMENT Many of the problems uncovered thus far by the Malaysian Electoral Roll Analysis Project (Merap) are not directly attributable to the Election Commission (EC).

The responsibility of issuing identity cards and ensuring that as far as possible the holders of these cards are Malaysian citizens who live in valid residences is under the jurisdiction of the National Registration Department (NRD).

Questionable foreign-born citizens in voters roll

Ong Kian Ming | 8:14AM Jun 2, 2012 

COMMENT The Election Commission (EC) produced a booklet entitled ‘The Truth Behind the Accusations and Lies towards the Election Commission' on its website. In this booklet, the EC tried to defend itself against 12 allegations made with regard to the electoral roll.

Non-resident voters: EC economizes with 'truth'

Ong Kian Ming | 11:01AM May 17, 2012 

COMMENT I have been asked many questions with regard to the 3.1 million potential non-resident voters which I first highlighted at a press conference together with members of the Bersih steering committee on April 23. I subsequently wrote about this issue in greater detail here.

EC has not been honest in all its rebuttals

Ong Kian Ming | 9:45AM May 7, 2012

COMMENT Bersih 3.0 may have been a success in terms of its ability to attract more than 100,000 Malaysians from all walks of life to come out in support of clean and fair elections but the hard work of ensuring that this aspiration is translated into reality needs to continue.

Electoral roll: What else is the EC hiding?

Ong Kian Ming | 10:36AM Apr 24, 2012 

COMMENT In two previous articles, I highlighted 10 problems associated with the electoral roll as part of the preliminary findings of the Malaysian Electoral Roll Analysis Project (Merap), a research effort to identify and understand problems with the existing electoral roll.

'Dubious' voters may decide GE13

Ong Kian Ming | 9:15AM Apr 8, 2012 

ANALYSIS In the first part of this article, I highlighted five problems with the electoral roll which were not addressed in the report by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on Electoral Reform.

In this second part, I will highlight five additional problems with the electoral roll, all of which concern the highly problematic area of postal voting among army and police personnel.

10 major problems in EC's electoral roll

Ong Kian Ming | 9:26AM Apr 7, 2012 

ANALYSIS The Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reform report, which was released earlier this week, highlights 22 recommendations on how to improve the electoral process.