Voter’s guide
A short, practical method for doing your own due diligence on candidates and parties — what to look for, how much to trust what you read, and where to check it. About eight minutes to read.
Confirm your parliamentary (P) and state (N) seats, then list every candidate and the party or coalition they stand for. The logo on the ballot is often the coalition, not the candidate's own party.
Which seats am I voting in, and who exactly is standing?
Where to check · SPR MySPR Semak for your registration and seats; this site's constituency pages.
Write down the claims each candidate makes about themselves — education, career, past roles — and check the important ones. Note mismatches, but don't assume bad faith: biographies are often copied with errors.
Do their degree, jobs and titles check out against an official or institutional record?
Where to check · Official biographies, government gazettes, university and professional bodies.
For people who have held office, judge the record, not the speeches: how they voted and spoke, what they promised and what was actually delivered. For newcomers, look at their work and community record.
What did they promise last time, and what happened — announced, funded, built, working?
Where to check · Parliament Hansard and state assembly records, Auditor-General reports, ministry releases.
Look for court cases, MACC (SPRM) action and audit findings, and always find out where each one ended. An allegation, an investigation, a charge and a conviction are four very different things.
Is this an allegation, a charge or a conviction — and what was the final outcome?
Where to check · MACC press statements, court judgments, Auditor-General and PAC reports.
Decide what matters most to you, compare candidates on the same points, and write down your reasons. It is fine to be undecided while you wait for missing information.
Given what I care about, which evidence actually changes my mind?
Where to check · Your notebook on this site — pin evidence and record why it matters to you.
Every piece of information sits somewhere on this ladder. The lower it sits, the more carefully you should word it — and the less it should decide your vote on its own.
Political stories often stop at the most dramatic stage. Always find out where a case actually ended.
Sources · Government gazettes · Universities, professional bodies
A typo in a biography is not fraud. Look for a pattern, or a claim that mattered to their election.
Sources · Hansard and DUN records · Auditor-General reports and dashboard · Ministry and agency releases
Announcements are not delivery. Follow a promise through budget, tender, construction and outcome.
Sources · MACC (SPRM) statements · Court judgments · Reputable news follow-ups
Being questioned as a witness, or named in someone else's case, is not being accused.
Sources · SSM company records · GLC annual reports · Tender and award notices
Owning a company is normal. A conflict needs a real link between their private interest and a public decision.
Sources · Party records · News archives with their own statements
Switching parties is a political fact, not misconduct. Judge the reasons and the consistency.
Sources · Manifestos · Hansard votes and speeches · Interviews
Compare like with like — a state assembly member cannot deliver a federal policy alone.
Your vote elects a person, but it also helps a party or coalition form a government.
Where the party has governed — federally or in any state — what changed? Use official statistics, not the party's own summary.
Are the big promises costed, legal, and within the powers of the office being contested?
The party is only as good as its candidates. Apply the candidate checks to the people it puts on your ballot.
Who are its partners, and how have past coalitions held together? Your vote may help form a government with them.
Does it publish its finances, hold internal elections and answer questions in public?
Anything without a named source and a link is grade E. Ask: who said this first, and where?
Audio and video can be faked convincingly. Look for the same clip from a reputable outlet before trusting it.
Check the date. Stories resurface at election time without their ending — the charge that was later dropped.
Malaysian names repeat. Match the seat, the party or the photo before connecting a story to a candidate.
The headline says “linked to scandal”; paragraph nine says “not a suspect”. Read to the end.
Pages and “independent” portals run by parties or their supporters. Check who publishes it.
Look up the candidates in your seat, pin the evidence that matters to you, and record your reasoning in your private notebook.
An AI assistant that follows this guide and can look up Duede's published records. It won't tell you who to vote for, and it can make mistakes — check the records it links to.
Ask how to apply the guide — or about a specific candidate or seat.