Expect 'massive changes' electorally if voters switch address – NGO

Expect 'massive changes' electorally if voters switch address – NGO


Published: Mar 27, 2025 1:45 PM
Updated: 4:45 PM


Summary

• Tindak Malaysia says if voters change their voting address to their place of residence, it will increase the number of Malay majority and mixed seats while reducing Chinese majority seats.

• It will also create an Orang Asli majority seat in Jelai, its director adds.

If voters start casting ballots in the locality they live in, it would create massive changes to many constituencies in Peninsular Malaysia, the electoral reform group Tindak Malaysia said.

According to a post on LinkedIn, its director Danesh Prakash Chacko said it will create a major decrease in Chinese majority areas and a minor increase in Malay majority seats.

“We will also see an increase of mixed (seats) and an introduction of an Orang Asli majority seat in Jelai,” he added.

He pointed out that such a matter would create a problem, where inner-city constituencies could lose voters.

“While constituencies like Kota Lama in Kota Bharu could lose half of its voters, places with growing housing areas like in Selangor will explode in voter count, with some constituencies adding more than 100,000 voters,” Danesh said.

However, the NGO leader qualified his study by saying it only involved Peninsular Malaysia as there is an effective “apple-to-apple” comparison between electoral roll and census data, with his data more reliant on the 2020 data compared to 2022 estimated population projections (ethnic composition).

PAS’ call

On March 13, Selangor PAS chief Ab Halim Tamuri called for party supporters who live in Selangor but vote in other states - namely Kelantan, Terengganu, and Kedah - to become local voters instead.

"I really hope those who live in Selangor vote in Selangor. Especially in constituencies where we need (support) like Shah Alam, Sungai Buloh, Bangi, Sekinchan, Semenyih, and Sepang," he was reported as saying.

While some panned the idea, Bersatu MP Wan Saiful Wan Jan said it was unfair for voters to cast their ballots in places where they no longer live for years despite it being their place of birth.

He said it affects the basic principle of democracy, where the power to elect local leaders must be vested in those who would be directly impacted by the decision made, not those unaffected at all.

Touching on Halim’s idea, Danesh said voters decide to retain their old addresses due to several reasons.

“One is nostalgia for the home state/state identity. They may also still have some stake in their hometown.

“Plus, it could also be due to strategic voting purposes,” he added.