The Melaka High Court has granted leave for a judicial review of the Election Commission’s (EC) redelineation exercise.
This case was filed by seven voters in Melaka to challenge the final redelineation report that was passed by Parliament and gazetted last month.
Justice Siti Khadijah ruled that there was prima facie evidence to show that there were malapportionment and gerrymandering, which contravened the Federal Constitution.
However, the judge did not grant a stay against the using of the new map in GE14.
The substantive hearing has been set for May 28, but it is likely that the EC will be appealing.
The seven voters – Chan Tsu Chong, Neo Lih Xin, Azura Talib, Lim Kah Seng, Norhizam Hassan Baktee, Amir Khairudin and Amran Atan – had challenged the EC in April last year over the then proposed redelineation exercise.
However, the Court of Appeal, in allowing the EC’s appeal against a lower court order, denied them leave to commence judicial review against the commission.
The Federal Court upheld the decision in February.
In their judicial review filed on April 7, the Kota Melaka parliamentary constituents claimed that the redelineation exercise violated the Federal Constitution as it created “oversized” parliamentary constituencies, contributing to malapportionment.
They said the EC had completed the final report without hearing objections from 107 citizens, representing more than 10,000 registered voters in Selangor, over the redelineation exercise in the state.
“It was premature to submit the report to Prime Minister (Najib Razak) when the exercise was not completed,” they said.
The report was passed by the Dewan Rakyat on March 28 and gazetted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong the next day.
Earlier report: Feb 20, Appeal of Two DAP MPs, Seven Voters in Redelineation Exercise Case Dismissed