EC: Malaysian voters abroad not ignored

The EC chief also says Pakatan had acted wrongly in rejecting RTM's offer to allocate them 10 minutes for each party.

SHAH ALAM: The Election Commission has refuted claim by certain quarters that Malaysians abroad are not given the chance to vote in the general election.

Chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said the claim was unjustified as the Elections Act was amended to allow Malaysians abroad to register as voters.

“I was told that certain quarters claimed that millions of Malaysians abroad have been ignored and become victims of the electoral system as they are not given the chance to vote.

“They also claimed there are about one million voters abroad but the EC only accepted applications from 5,167 Malaysians who want to vote by post,” he told reporters after the final briefing for heads and officers of Selangor state departments here today.

According to record, the highest number of Malaysians abroad who registered as voters were from Australia (1,206) followed by United Kingdom (871), China (513), United States (342) and Taiwan (183).

Rules allowing Malaysians abroad to vote by post was gazetted on Jan 21.

Abdul Aziz said previously, only full time students and civil servants with their spouses were allowed to vote by post.

On the opposition move to reject Radio Television Malaysia’s (RTM) offer of 10 minutes for political parties to explain their manifestos, he said they should have studied the offer.

“Previously, they were angry with the EC for not giving them space in the media but now, even before the proposal is discussed in detail, they have rejected it.”

He will meet with officials from the Information Communications and Culture Ministry and political parties soon to discuss the proposal.

Bernama