Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Ismail Sabri, has just dissolved the parliament effective immediately. That means we’re having an election in 60 days. Surprise! 

Whilst this is a reminder that we’re democratic and have the right to vote, voting is not always the silver bullet that we think it is. That’s because gerrymandering & malapportionment exists. Let me explain: 👇​ 👇

What is Gerrymandering?

• It’s the manipulation of boundaries to favour one party or class.

• So, in the case of elections, district boundaries can be drawn in such a way that gives an edge to the seating party.

• To maximise their edge, the party in power can draw boundaries in the most absurd ways to make sure they win a majority.

What is Malapportionment?

• The party in power can create electoral districts with different ratios of voters to representatives.

• This means that districts are disproportionately represented by Members of Parliament (MP).

• And by packing all opposition voters into super constituencies, the votes are diluted.

• Eg. Each district only votes for 1 MP, so a voter’s vote from a district with a high population is worth less than a voter’s vote in a less populated district.

This is just a reminder that while it’s nice that we are democratic, political power can still be abused. Democracy is a means of governance, not the endgame. Malaysia has a long way to go and I’m sure many bright Malaysians strive to make it better. Just remember that voters should choose their candidates, not the other way round.

Before you go...

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This series is brought to you by Lee Way (@leewaylau). He will be writing about political & societal issues, history, movies and music on What's Up Wednesday.