The group of lawyers, who call themselves the “Super 8”, said this practice had been ongoing for years and that the council’s sudden announcement was unacceptable.

Representing the group, Khoo Boon Han asked if the directive was a rule or “friendly advice coincidentally timed to single out a certain group in the election”.

“What’s the motive of issuing such a statement now? We are wondering if it is because an ‘NGO’, which has volunteered to collect ballots from outside Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, will be able to get more fence-sitting lawyers who normally throw away their ballots to its side.

“Is it due to a certain group of candidates aligned to the NGO, which is starting to gain traction with ballots being collected to be despatched to the secretariat?” he asked.

Khoo told FMT his stand was shared by the Super 8, comprising current Bar Council members Azmi Ali and V Kokila Vaani, as well as Zainal Abidin Shaik Zakaria, Selangor Bar representative Eugene Roy Joseph, Cyrus Tiu, N Yohendra, and Vincent Ong.

Khoo was referring to a group calling itself the Law and Human Rights Association. Claiming to be independent, the group had offered to collect ballots and send them to the Bar Council secretariat for free, with the sole intention of getting more lawyers to vote in the election.

In a WhatsApp message being circulated to lawyers, the group cited the low number of lawyers who returned their marked ballots last year and the apparently poor response in the election for the 2025-2026 council.

In its circular, the Bar Council said it did not endorse the collection and delivery of ballot papers from members to the secretariat as it was “irregular”.

This year, 23,281 ballots were sent out to lawyers for the 2025-2026 Bar Council election. They have until Nov 30 to mark and return them to the secretariat.