Following the announcement on the implementation of overseas voting in the next general election, overseas voters want the Election Commission (EC) to come out with details of the voting process so as to ensure the integrity of their ballots.

MyOverseasVote (MOV), a group formed by Malaysians overseas to lobby for their voting rights in the next general election, said it will work with the EC and political parties to ensure the integrity of the postal voting system and to minimise the possibility of fraud.

“MOV welcomes the extension of postal voting but we still strongly support Bersih's call to extend postal voting to all Malaysians overseas and voters from Sabah and Sarawak in Malaya and vice versa.

NONE “We encourage those who can afford to return to vote to do so. For those who cannot, a postal vote is better than no vote at all, and they should apply to vote by post,” MOV spokesperson Leong See See said when contacted.

According to the EC, postal voting is not available for Malaysians living in south Thailand, Singapore, Brunei and Kalimantan.

Shanghai Bersih, an ad-hoc group formed by Bersih supporters residing in Shanghai, raised more specific demands to the EC.

It urged the EC to announce details of the invigilation procedures that will be put in place at the overseas polling stations to avoid vote tampering.

Detailed vote-counting procedures to be carried out at the EC office should also be made public, said the group, because voters abroad are from different states and parliamentary constituencies nationwide.

They also demand the EC to:

  • Announce the list of overseas missions eligible as polling stations and ensure they are capable in handling the overseas voting because even the Malaysian consulate-general in Shanghai, which serves more than 10,000 Malaysians there, was found incapable of registering ordinary voters.
  • Announce the current list of absentee voters who are already eligible to vote from overseas, and update the list every week according to the progress of the new postal voters registration. This is in order to ensure no large number of absentee voters could be added at the last minute.
  • Guarantee that it will not withdraw overseas voting at eleventh hour as it did with use of indelible ink in the 2008 general election.
  • Respond to the applications for overseas voting within a reasonable period, for instance within two weeks, and not after the nomination day, in order to encourage early registration and allow Malaysians abroad to plan their trip back to Malaysia if their applications are rejected.

'Return to vote'

According to a question-and-answer file published on the EC website, it will only officially inform applicants on the outcome of their application after nomination day, but applicants are encouraged to check the status on the website from time to time.

Shanghai Bersih also called on overseas Malaysians to return and vote.

“Due to the great risks and uncertainties under the current mechanism, before the improvement of the overseas voting mechanism, we call on Malaysians abroad to try their best to vote in Malaysia, in order to ensure every vote counts.”

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