EC to study postal voting proposal for auxiliary police, says Kulasegaran

 

The Election Commission (EC) will study a proposal to extend postal voting facilities to auxiliary police officers guarding the country's strategic assets and critical infrastructure, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M. Kulasegaran said. Bernama pic

KUALA LUMPUR: The Election Commission (EC) will study a proposal to extend postal voting facilities to auxiliary police officers guarding the country's strategic assets and critical infrastructure, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M. Kulasegaran said.

He said the study would take into account operational requirements, legal provisions and election implementation.

"Although the categories of voters currently eligible for early and postal voting are prescribed under existing regulations, the EC has taken note of the proposal raised by the honourable senator.

"Postal voting is subject to the relevant legal provisions and consideration of voter categories required to remain on duty during elections without disrupting the smooth conduct of the electoral process and essential government services," he said.

Kulasegaran was responding to a motion tabled by Senator Datuk Salehuddin Saidin during the Adjournment Speech session in the Dewan Negara today on extending early or postal voting facilities to auxiliary police officers.

Kulasegaran said the EC also encourages voters, including auxiliary police personnel, to apply to transfer their voting constituency to their current place of residence to make voting more convenient.

He said postal voting is currently available to three categories of voters:

Category 1A: EC members and officers, election workers, members of the armed forces and police, as well as media personnel on duty during elections.

Category 1B: Malaysian citizens residing overseas.

Category 1C: Personnel from selected government departments and agencies required to work on polling day.

In his motion, Salehuddin said about 27,000 auxiliary police officers are serving in ministries, government agencies, government-linked companies (GLCs), public transport operators, airports, ports, the energy and utilities sectors, financial institutions, the oil and gas industry, and other critical national infrastructure.

He said auxiliary police officers are currently not eligible for early or postal voting, unlike several other categories of security personnel, putting them at risk of losing the opportunity to vote if they are not granted leave on polling day.

Allowing all officers to take leave simultaneously could also affect security at strategic facilities, he said.

As such, he proposed that the government, through the EC, the Home Ministry and relevant agencies, conduct a comprehensive study on allowing auxiliary police officers on duty during elections to vote early or by post, including through amendments to the Election (Registration of Electors) Regulations 1981.

Meanwhile, Dewan Negara president Datuk Awang Bemee Awang Ali Basah said, before adjourning today's sitting, that the motion on a government administrative matter was the first to be debated during the Adjournment Speech session since the procedure was introduced in 2022 under the Senate's Standing Order 16.

Another motion tabled today by Senator Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe focused on the impact of extreme cross-border e-commerce pricing by platforms such as Pinduoduo and Temu on Malaysia's micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and retail sector.

The Dewan Negara sitting continues tomorrow. -  NST