Overseas, outstation Sabahans 'can become postal voters with EC's nod'

SABAH 2020 | The Election Commission (EC) has the jurisdiction to allow Sabahans who reside outside the North Borneo state to cast their ballots through postal voting in the forthcoming state election, former EC secretary Kamaruzaman Mohd Noor said.

Kamaruzaman, who served as EC secretary between 2004 and 2008, said this could be done by simply expanding the scope of postal voters to Sabahans who live outside their state.

He said the EC is empowered to do so under the current electoral regulation and there is no need for the government to amend existing laws or the Federal Constitution.

"As a former EC official, I see that this is viable under Clause 3(1)(e) of Elections (Postal Voting) Regulations 2003, where EC can use the existing clause to declare a certain category of (registered) voters as postal voters," he said in a webinar on postal voting in Sabah yesterday.

Clause 3 (1)(e) of the regulation states that a member of any category of persons can be designated as a postal voter by the EC from time to time by notification in the Gazette.

As such, Kamaruzaman proposed that the EC extends the postal voting right to Sabahans who are working in the peninsula, in neighbouring states or countries, as well as those staying far away from their polling districts.

Moving forward, he said Malaysians all over the country should be granted similar electoral rights too, without the hassle to travel home to vote.

Kamaruzaman said this could be a historical moment if the EC could further relax the rules involving postal voters.

When contacted, EC acting chairperson Azmi Sharom (above) said the commission would issue a statement to address the postal vote issue by today.

Currently, security personnel, media personnel, employees at nine government departments and agencies are eligible for domestic postal voting.

The EC relaxed the rules to allow Malaysians living overseas to apply for postal voting. In the 2018 general election, more than 200,000 overseas Malaysians were entitled to cast postal votes.

Back home, Malaysians are still not entitled to their right of postal voting.

Early this month, Sabah Bersih called for EC to consider allowing Sabahans working in Sarawak and the peninsula to cast their postal vote in the state election.

Sabah goes to the poll latest by the end of September, following the dissolution of State Legislative Assembly on July 30.

Similar calls were heard coming from Sarawak as thousands of the state residents are working in the neighbouring districts, states and countries.

The 12th Sarawak state election has to be held, by the latest, in July 2021.

Kamaruzaman urged Bersih to file in a petition on its call to the EC as soon as possible as time is running short for the commission, which needs to call for the state election in 60 days after the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly to enable it to make the appropriate arrangements.

"The EC is left with 47 days to conduct the poll… If we are late (in acting), then it is possible that the EC will be unable to make it," he said. - Mkini