Ex-EC chairman predicts May polling date

The polling day of the 13th General Election (GE13) would most likely be held in early May, according to the prediction by former Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman.

The former civil servant, who oversaw seven general elections during his service, said that nomination day, on the other hand, could possibly fall on the fourth week of April between the 18th and 22nd.

This morning, (Wednesday) the EC is expected to announce the nomination and polling dates after holding a special meeting. The special meeting will also announce the finalised electoral roll which will be used for the polls.

“Probably nomination will be in the beginning of the fourth week (of April), and polling day towards the end of first week of May. Looking at the time factor, no way polling can be done this month. That’s my prediction,” Abdul Rashid told Astro Awani.

According to Article 55 of the Constitution, the EC must hold elections within 60 days of the dissolution of Parliament, which was on April 3.

Abdul Rashid said the EC usually tries to hold polling day on a Saturday or Sunday to make it easier for people to vote, but it was not necessarily the case.

“When we held it on the weekday, offices would usually allow workers to come out for two hours to cast their ballots, the commission would also ask private companies for that leeway to be given to their employees,” he said.

Abdul Rashid explained that legally, there must be at least a four-day gap between the meeting and nomination date.

There must also be at least one week in between nomination date till polling day, though a longer campaign period between 10 to 12 days is usually given.

“(Between nomination and polling day) there must at least be seven clear days, not counting the day it was announced. That’s the law, but the EC has the discretion to give more days,” he said.

By convention, Abdul Rashid said that the EC would give a longer period, though there has been cases where only eight days was given.

“Depending on situation, for example, if security was not that good, then probably the period is shorter. It varies from one election to another,” he said.

He said that during his tenure, there were some parties which requested for shorter days as they did not have enough resources to stretch the campaign.

However, he said that it was not advisable for the EC to give the minimum seven days as parties would not have enough time to campaign.

On the factors that EC would look at to determine the dates, Abdul Rashid said it included holding the elections as soon as possible.

“If the commission is ready with everything, normally they would take 60 days. It should be held as soon as possible,” he said.

“Security is a factor. I remember those days police were also asking us to complete the whole process as soon as possible. The longer you delay, there would be problems as there would be tension on the ground due to heavy competition,” he said.

He said a small matter such as banners could blow up into fights.

The readiness of various logistics was also a matter that EC would consider.

“The convenience of mobilising EC equipments and material, including the printing of ballot papers for example. These papers would have to be transported to all nooks and corners of the country,” he said.

Aside from deciding on the date, the EC would also issue writs which gives power to the 222 returning officers of parliamentary seats and those for state seats, which were sometimes the same people.

Earlier today, SinChew Daily online quoted unnamed sources and reported that nomination day would fall on April 20 while polling would fall on May 5.