PETALING JAYA: Electoral reform group Bersih has expressed disappointment in the Election Commission (EC) for fixing only 14 days, and not 21 days, as the campaign period for the 15th general election (GE15).
It said the additional seven days would have given the contesting parties an opportunity to meet the people on the ground, especially with six million more voters now compared to the last general election (GE14).
“The current campaign period of 14 days is too short,” said the electoral watchdog in a statement.
A 21-day campaign period would also give overseas postal voters sufficient time to send their voting papers, it said.
Bersih urged the EC to extend the deadline for overseas postal voters (Category 1B) for at least another week, similar to that in Category 1C (agencies and organisations).
The closing date for early voting application is Oct 23 for Malaysians residing overseas, Oct 26 for agencies or organisations, and Nov 2 for the media, army, police force and election officials.
“In light of the EC having just announced the polling dates, many overseas voters may now only realise that they need to apply as postal voters,” it said.
Earlier, the EC announced that polling day for GE15 will fall on Nov 19, with early voting set for Nov 15. Nominations will be on Nov 5.
EC chairman Abdul Ghani Salleh said a total of 21,173,638 voters will be eligible to cast their ballots in the elections. - FMT
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