Bersih wants EC to get outstation postal votes in place for GE15, S'wak polls
Bersih wants the Election Commission to commit to a timeline for postal voting for Malaysians living out of state to happen and whether this can be in time for the Sarawak state election due next year as well as the 15th general election.
This was after the EC said the Sabahans living in Sarawak and the peninsula would not be eligible for postal voting for the upcoming Sabah state election.
Bersih wants the Election Commission to commit to a timeline for postal voting for Malaysians living out of state to happen and whether this can be in time for the Sarawak state election due next year as well as the 15th general election.
This was after the EC said the Sabahans living in Sarawak and the peninsula would not be eligible for postal voting for the upcoming Sabah state election.
"Bersih is disappointed that the EC is still unable to deliver on this procedural reform despite it being one of the recommendations made by the Special Parliamentary Select Committee led by Maximus Ongkili in 2012.
"We suggest the EC gazette out-of-region voters as advance voters eligible for postal voting under Regulation 3(1)(e) of the Elections (Advance Voting) Regulations 2012 in order to implement such a process," they said in a statement tonight.
Earlier, EC deputy chief Azmi Sharom said postal voting for those living out of the region was not possible yet but assured that the commission was looking into the matter.
Bersih estimated that up to 20 percent of East Malaysian voters were living and working in Peninsular Malaysia while "a good number" of people from the peninsula were also working in Sabah and Sarawak.
"Many Malaysians, including Sabahans and Sarawakians, are compelled to find jobs far from their regions due to unequal economic development among the states and they should not be further burdened financially or put at risk during this Covid-19 pandemic, by travelling back to their constituencies just to exercise their fundamental right to vote," said Bersih.
The EC is expected to announce the date for the Sabah state election on Monday. The Sabah legislature was dissolved after a coup attempt by Perikatan Nasional.
Sarawak, meanwhile, is due to hold state elections next year.
Speculation is also rife the Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will dissolve Parliament for the 15th general election once the Covid-19 pandemic is under control.
