KUALA LUMPUR – The Election Commission (EC) has announced with immediate effect several updates to its standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the ongoing Johor election campaign.
The seemingly lenient updates come despite the nation’s daily Covid-19 caseload continuing to grow, recording 25,854 infections yesterday.
In a statement today, the EC said that while talks, lectures and physical campaigns are allowed to be held at party offices and official operating rooms, they cannot be held after midnight nor at open premises and public spaces.
As indicated in a previous statement by the EC, such activities cannot exceed 100 people or 50% of the area’s space capacity, so as to ensure that physical distancing measures of at least 1m between individuals can be observed.
The figure above includes organisers, secretariat, speakers, and participants.
“These amendments and additions to the Covid-19 prevention SOPs for the Johor state election will be effective immediately.
“The EC hopes that all parties will abide by the laws, rules and ethics of electoral campaigns as well as the guidelines of Covid-19 prevention for the sake of ensuring a smooth electoral process and public safety,” it said.
It noted that it had taken into consideration suggestions made by the Health Ministry (MoH) and the National Security Council (MKN) when updating the SOPs for the state polls.
On February 27, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said that Johor’s rate of Covid-19 booster vaccination shots had reached the target set by MoH for the state election.
At 70%, the minister said that the rate is adequate in protecting Johor voters throughout the polls.
Johor will go to the polls on March 12 to elect representatives for 56 state seats, with more than 2.59 million eligible voters in the state.
During the Melaka election on November 20, Khairy had said that any activities, gatherings or social events related to elections were prohibited from October 25 until November 27.
The EC had similarly banned the holding of talks, lectures and physical campaigns to curb the spread of Covid-19. – The Vibes, March 2, 2022
