PHANTOM Ballot Papers at Bar Council Elections 2007/08; Police Report Lodged; NO ELECTION Result Declared by Scrutineers appointed by Bar Council

KUALA LUMPUR, Sun: The Acting Executive Director, Kenneth Goh this morning lodged a police report on behalf of the Bar Council with regard to the 50 forged ballot papers discovered during the counting of ballot papers for the Bar Elections 2007/2008 on December 1. The report was lodged at the Brickfields District Police Headquarters and Goh was accompanied by lawyer Amer Hamzah.
Statement issued by the Bar Council President

“I have been informed of Bernama’s report and I do not know its sources as Bernama has not contacted me. The 50 odd ballots are clearly not the ballots that were sent from the Bar Council secretariat. And these ballots were sent in by person or persons unknown to us. Whatever the motive of this person or persons is, the Bar Council is looking into the matter and will make sure such motive does not become successful. The scrutineers appointed by the Bar Council did not declare any result of the election. They have submitted a report to the Bar Council. The Bar Council has discussed the report and asks the scrutineers to carry out further clarification exercise tomorrow (which is Monday)”

Forged ballots shock; Husna yusop, NST

PETALING JAYA (Dec 3, 2006): The Bar Council lodged a police report Sunday following the discovery of fraud in its annual election -- the first time in its 59-year-old history. Its president, Yeo Yang Poh, said 50 forged ballot papers were found among the 3,370 postal ballots received last week to elect 12 council members. The forgery was discovered when lawyers Datuk Yaacob Hussain Merican, S. Radhakrishnan and Inderjit Singh, who had been appointed the scrutineers for the election, met for the counting of the votes on Friday. The council had sent out 12,353 ballot papers to practising lawyers in the peninsula last month to enable them to vote. "The council is saddened that there are persons who would want to send in forged ballot papers," Yeo told theSun.

"There are spoilt votes in most elections but this is the first time that we found forged papers." Asked if the council suspected anyone of being behind the act, he said it could not be determined now. "Anybody could have sent in a forged ballot paper as the council does not have control over it," he said. "We do not know what the motive is or who they are. They are not necessarily from among the Malaysian Bar members. We have no control, we just receive the papers. "The council is looking into whatever motives they have in mind and will take steps so that the motives are not achieved." Yeo said the results of the election will be made known in a few days, irrespective of the outcome of the investigation into incident.

The Bar Council's election of 12 of its 36 members is held annually, with nominations being held in October and postal ballot papers distributed to all members in the first week of November. For the 2007/2008 term, the election was closed last Thursday, and the counting of votes was carried out on Friday under the supervision of the three scrutineers. Yeo is not be seeking re-election because he is already into the end of his second term. However, he will remain in the council as the immediate past president. Asked to comment on a Bernama report, citing sources, that the election has been declared null and void following the discovery of the forged ballot papers, Yeo denied that such an nnouncement has been made. The council is expected to meet today to discuss the matter.

Bernama had reported the three scrutineers had detected strong evidence the election had been rigged and had nullified the election besides calling for a fresh one to be held. This year, 34 candidates are vying for the 12 seats up for grabs, includingformer Bar Council presidents Hendon Mohamed and Datuk Khutubul Zaman Bukhari, and lawyer Datuk Muhammad Shafee Abdullah. Lawyers contacted described the use of phantom votes in the election as "most embarrassing" to the legal profession and the council and called for a thorough investigation to nail the culprits. "There should be no cover-up and the culprits, if arrested, should be prosecuted and severely dealt with," a senior lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Bernama. He said their action had tarnished the "august body" and the outgoing council members who are "very honourable people". Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, who runs the country's largest law firm, said the council should conduct its election properly although the process had become a huge task with the growing number of lawyers. "This (use of forged ballot papers) should not have happened and if it's true, the council has to put things right," he said. Bernama also quoted sources as saying the scrutineers detected the irregularities from the serial numbers shown on the ballot papers.

It said the scrutineers had told the council they took "a very serious view of the fraud committed" and had called for an independent body to conduct a fresh election, starting from the printing of the ballot papers to the distribution and receipt of the papers.

Bar Council's Polls Declared Null And Void, Forged Ballots Found; December 03, 2006 15:55 PM By Azman Ujang; KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 (Bernama) -- The just-concluded election for 12 council members of the Bar Council, the watchdog body for the legal profession, has been declared null and void following the shocking discovery of forged ballot papers, Bernama understands Sunday.

Sources said the three scrutineers appointed by the council for the election had detected strong evidence that it had been rigged and had nullified the polls besides calling for a fresh election to be held. This is the first time in the 59-year history of the Bar Council that phantom voters had surfaced in its elections, the sources said, describing it as a legal scandal. The council issued a total of 12,353 ballot papers bearing the numbers from 001 to 12,353 to enable all practising lawyers who are its members in Peninsular Malaysia to vote in the election carried out throughout November. Lawyers in Sabah and Sarawak have their own separate Bar committees.

When the scrutineers comprising three of the country's most senior lawyers -- Datuk Yaacob Hussain Merican, Inderjit Singh and S. Radhakrishnan -- met on Friday for the counting of votes, they discovered 50 forged ballot papers bearing the numbers which differed from those issued by the council. Some 3,370 ballot papers out of the 12,353 distributed to members were received for the election which saw 34 candidates vying for the 12 seats up for grabs. The sources said the scrutineers detected irregularities in 50 ballot papers and upon checking with the council, established that there were forged documents from the numbers shown in the papers.

The sources said there was also a strong possibility that other forged ballot papers containing any of the numbers issued by the council might have been sent by the person and persons involved in rigging the polls. They said the scrutineers were unable to verify the authenticity of other ballot papers as there were no security features on those issued. It is understood that the scrutineers had told the council that they "took a very serious view of the fraud committed" and had called for an independent body to conduct a fresh election process, starting from the printing of the ballot papers to the distribution and receipt of the papers.

The Bar Council has 36 council members, out of whom 12 are elected and the rest are two members from each state Bar committee. The 36 members serve for a one-year term and among them elect the president, vice president, secretary and treasurer of the council who serve a maximum two terms of one year each. Among the 34 candidates contesting this time are former Bar Council presidents Hendon Mohamed and Datuk Khutubul Zaman Bukhari, and prominent lawyer Datuk Muhammad Shafee Abdullah. The discovery of phantom voters from the among lawyers came in the wake of calls by a number of candidates to beef up its election machinery, including by allowing candidates to appoint election agents to be present during the opening and inspection of the ballot boxes and counting of votes. "

But this was rejected by the council as there were no provisions for it under the Legal Profession Act," the sources said. At the council's extraordinary general meeting on Nov 16, two members moved a motion to among other things, appoint a seven-member committee to oversee the whole election process and for all ballot papers delivered to the council to be kept securely locked, but this motion was postponed to be discussed at the council's annual general meeting in March. Lawyers contacted described the use of phantom votes in the polls as "most embarrassing" to the legal profession and the council and called for a thorough investigation to nail the culprits. "There should be no cover-up and the culprits if arrested should be prosecuted and severely dealt with," said a senior lawyer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

He said their action had tarnished the "august body" and the outgoing council members who are "very honourable people". Another lawyer, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, who runs the country's largest law firm, said the council should conduct its election properly although the process had become a huge task with the growing number of lawyers in the country.

" This (use of forged ballot papers) should not have happened and if it's true, the council has to put things right," he said. The council is expected to meet tomorrow to discuss the matter. Bar Council president Yeo Yang Poh was not available for comments.

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FISHING IN TROUBLED WATERS

Written by Stephen Tan Ban Cheng on 03 December, 2006 at 20:41

Very interesting read. So we have a full blown scandal with no dearth of lawyers speaking to the media about this. As all of you can see, it is "a day of infamy" for the Malaysian Bar - the phrase used by American President Roosevelt when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. (Hope my dates are correct, as I am writing from memory.) I wonder who the lawyers are who have fed the print and broadcast media and whether they are proud of themselves for doing such things. Whatever it is, one thing comes clear: There is no shortage of lawyers who think they can fish in troubled waters, waters that they might have troubles in the first place!