New postal voting rule should be made permanent, EC told

 

All Melaka voters living overseas, including those in neighbouring countries, will be allowed to vote by post for the state elections next month.

PETALING JAYA: The Election Commission has been urged to make permanent changes on voting rules to allow all overseas Malaysians, including those in neighbouring countries, to vote by post.

Global Bersih, an electoral reform group, said the EC’s new rule, to allow postal voting for all Melaka voters living overseas, should be made permanent.

The new EC rule was gazetted on Oct 20. It said Melaka voters, including those who are living overseas, can apply to cast their ballots for the coming state assembly elections through postal voting.

The elections take place on Nov 20, with early voting on Nov 18.

Previously, Malaysians living in southern Thailand (the provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, Songkhla, and Satun), Singapore, Brunei, or Kalimantan in Indonesia did not qualify for postal voting and had to return to the country to vote.

The secretary-general of Global Bersih, Nirmala Devi Windgaetter urged the EC to make voting convenient for overseas Malaysian voters by making the postal voting rules permanent for all elections.

“It is essential that the changes should be applied to all elections on a permanent basis,” said Nirmala.

The group also called for an efficient and timely postal voting process because of the short campaign period of 12 days. - FMT