Extra check, long wait in Melbourne

from JOM magazine, Malaysian Insider and MalaysiaKini

Mobile phones and online voter status helped Malaysians to overcome an extra check imposed at the Melbourne consulate yesterday when Malaysians abroad cast postal ballots for the first time.

Frustration arose among voters when security guards refused to let in anyone who could not show confirmation of voter eligibility. Voters used their mobile phones to show confimation from the Election Commission web site, and shared their phones to help others.

Otherwise, voting went smoothly at the Perth consulate and the high commission in Canberra. In Hong Kong, voting was a five-minute affair, but voters in Paris pointed out several niggling glitches.

Teh tarik and snacks at the Melbourne consulate. [Photo: George Chang for Malaysian Insider]

At the Melbourne consulate, the guards later relented and allowed all those with ICs or passports to enter the building. Voters queued two-deep for up to 80m down St Kilda Road, among them Malaysians who had come from other parts of Australia. Some waited for as long as four hours.

The Melbourne consul-general, Dr Rameez Yahaya, said he had reminded voters two days ago to show printouts or SMS confirmation of voter status. He told JOM magazine that “it is not a requirement”, but was to prevent complaints later from those who had queued for a long time only to find their names not on the list.

He said there were almost 1,000 voters in Melbourne and he only had six staff on polling duty.

JOM magazine quoted voter Ramesh Richards as saying that three to four Malaysians who came into the building had to leave because they were not registered postal voters. “One shouted and showed frustration but the rest just walked away,” he said.

Praveen Nagappan of Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia (Melbourne) confirmed that there were a handful of unregistered voters attempting to vote. There was no emotional outburst among the voters. “Perhaps just a little frustrated with the long wait but I reckon it is due to the number of people voting vs. the number of people serving.”

JOM’s reporter said several confused voters were among the crowd: one voter who had waited in line for two hours said he was not informed that you must be registered as a postal voter in order to vote.

Danny Chan, among the first to arrive at the consulate, said: “It was a straightforward process but it does take quite a bit of time. But otherwise they [the Malaysia's Consulate staffs] seem to know what they are doing.

“I first got inside at 9.05 am. There were about 25 people in there. The staff were very thorough, they checked every single thing. The polling process took quite long because I have to make sure all the forms are in one envelope.”

Three to four security guards patrolled inside the building, and observers were watching them like a hawk.

Fahmi Mohd described the process as “easy” because the procedures were clearly posted for the voters to read before they cast their votes. But “there was no permanent ink [indelible ink] used. That was quite different from Malaysia.”

In Melbourne yesterday: passport ready, and off to vote. [Photo: JOM magazine]

George Chang reported for Malaysian Insider that “There were no party posters, buntings or political tension to greet arrivals at the polling station. Rather this was a Malaysian get-together of sorts — a stall was even set up to sell teh tarik, nasi lemak and pau outside the consulate.”

In Paris, Lim Pau-Lynn, who has lived there for almost two years, found everything was in order and not as complicated as she had feared, Malaysiakini reported. “Since this is the first time I’m voting, I was a little nervous last night. I watched a lot of videos and tried to be well informed, so as not to make any mistakes. But it was all fairly simple.”

Airline cabin crew Uzair Abdul Nasir drove three hours to Paris to cast his vote. “The government should have allowed this (postal voting) a long time ago.”

Amiruddin Hamidun, a business executive in Lyon, had doubts about the transparency of the process. “I am not happy with the fact that it is the embassy staff who are working as EC agents”

Aidil Hannan Adnan, a government-sponsored student pursuing a Masters degree, was taken aback because his name was not on the list of postal voters. “Some students are registered and some are not. I just came to check again to be sure,” he added. Another student, Azlan Kamarudin, also was not on the list despite having registered.

There are 137 Malaysians registered as postal voters in France. At least 50 turned up.

All in the family at the consulate in Melbourne. [Photo: George Chang for Malaysian Insider]