The majority of MPs who responded to MP Watch want parliamentary democracy strengthened. Two top suggestions for doing this were reforming election practices and having parliamentary select committees.

WHILE voting in London went relatively smoothly on 28 April, some voters discovered a printed full-stop against the name of a candidate in their ballot papers. Hwa Yue-Yi writes from the United Kingdom on the voting process in London.

WHAT is the campaign trail like outside modern, urban constituencies, such as in a Felda settlement? Photojournalist Danny Lim gives us a glimpse of how a political party woos a rural community of farmers.

THERE are a record number of three-cornered fights this election, including those involving candidates from the same coalition. Why all the bickering over seats? Couldn’t seat allocations have been agreed upon before nomination day? And most importantly, what will it mean for the final results of GE13? The Nut Graph asks political scientist Wong Chin Huat.

PAKATAN Rakyat’s People’s Uprising Rally, dubbed KL112 by some, passed without any major incidents last Saturday. Is Pakatan Rakyat (PR) any closer to winning power federally? What resolutions should PR parties be making if they want to stand a good chance of making it to Putrajaya at the next general election? Political scientist Wong Chin Huat writes.

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?