Are Malaysians sufficiently educated on how to vote? It is widely assumed that marking “X” next to a candidate’s name is the only legitimate way to vote. It is not. Civil society groups now train volunteers to be election monitors, booth agents and polling and counting agents. They also cover training on doubtful votes, due to concerns that dubiously marked ballots could end up influencing an election outcome. Can this really happen?

PETALING JAYA, 9 April 2009: Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin was left out of the new cabinet line-up because he has been asked to focus on party work. Khairy said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak spoke with him last night to ask him to concentrate on drawing up strategies to reclaim the support of [...]

Manikumar speaking to journalists after the announcement of his victory on 7 April BY the end of campaigning in the Bukit Selambau by-election, even novice reporters sensed that the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) had an edge over the Barisan Nasional (BN). It is not that the PR has not had its own set of problems. For [...]

IT appears that not even the return of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to Umno’s fold could help the Barisan Nasional (BN)’s chances in Bukit Selambau and Bukit Gantang. And naturally, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) leaders are claiming that the party’s victory in the 7 April polls in Bukit Selambau is a clear referendum against new [...]

(Corrected at 3.34pm on 1 April 2009) OF the three simultaneous and upcoming by-elections on 7 April, the Bukit Selambau state seat in Kedah appears to be the most fascinating. On 12 March 2009, The Star reported that the Kedah police force had identified three “hot spots” in Bukit Selambau. Then on 19 March 2009, [...]

“WITH independent candidates, it depends on their ‘roots’,” says Kedah Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) information chief Ahmad Kasim. “For example, if they were originally from PKR, they will naturally pull votes away from the PKR candidate.” But if they were originally from the Barisan Nasional (BN), he says, they will split votes for the BN. [...]