To poll or not to poll?
Malaysiakini.com
Dec 4, 2006
Wong Yeen Fern

There are mixed reactions from lawyers on whether to hold a fresh Bar Council election after the discovery of forged ballot papers.

K Shanmuga

If the Bar Council can identify which are the forged ballot papers and which are the real ones, I think the counting process should not be null and void.

If the process is to be null and void and for a new election to be called, the people who forged the ballot papers will get what they want.

The Bar Council should try its very best to save the original election process if it can. The decision is in the hands of Bar Council.

Fahri Azzat

There is no basis to support the validity of the scrutineer’s report, there is not enough facts available, hence I think the counting process should not be null and void.

The Bar Council should verify the papers themselves first, they have the evidence, therefore they should go and check it themselves, not to only listen to the other party.

As I understand, how the security works during the election, is that there will be a stamp between the ballot paper and counter-foil, hence when voters cast their votes, the counter-foil must be torn off.

So, in order to check whether there is any forgery, they can check whether the counter-foil stamps match the ballot paper stamps.

If they do not match, then it can be determined as being forged. They cannot merely rely on the serial numbers alone.

SP Pathi

A fresh election should be held because the process should not be tainted by frauds and forgery, and now, the scrutineers have already discovered the forged papers during the counting process.

The election process does not involve a big amount of money like the general election, so why not hold a fresh election?

It is good to have a new one (election) which is done in accordance to the law, it is important for the Bar Council to do so because the Bar Council is part of the judicial system, hence they must always maintain their integrity by holding a new election.

Shaun Tan Kee Shaan

The election process should be free and transparent but now it has been tainted. Once it is tainted, there is no other choice but to have a fresh election.
A new election should be called because the Bar Council is an iconic body that maintains the basic principles of law ... if they do not have a fresh election, it will affect their reputation.

S Selvam

Once there is an element of forgery involved in the election process, the process should be null and void.

Just call for another election, go ahead and declare the election process null and void because we still don’t know how many forgery cases there are, it can be more.

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