Following the announcement of Parliament’s dissolution, many began flooding the Election Commission’s (EC) website.
However, at about 3.30pm yesterday they were met with disappointment as the website became inaccessible for voters to check their status and voting locations.
Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman first raised the matter on social media to lament the inappropriate timing of the site crash, claiming that millions of Malaysians wanted to check their voting status for the highly anticipated 15th general election.
A source familiar with the matter told Malaysiakini that the crash was due to a high volume of traffic, adding that it was possible over 10,000 people were attempting to access the site.
According to website status tracker Is It Down Right Now?, the EC page was back up at around 10pm yesterday.
The source added that the EC mobile application is an alternative way to check voter details.
Postal voting registrationAside from checking details, the EC website also allows voters to check election results and register for postal voting.
However, despite the EC opening postal voting registrations yesterday, many struggled to do so.
Heng Wei Ann, a Malaysian residing in the United Kingdom, shared that she wanted to register for postal voting immediately, as she was unable to in the 2018 election.
However, when the software engineer attempted to fill out the postal voter forms, she was merely directed to a blank page.
“When I tried again a few hours later I got to the form but it wouldn’t let me select from a drop-down menu for basic information such as type of applicant, or country of residence, so I couldn’t complete it.
“I complained on Instagram, and got some helpful replies from people sharing resources. The suggestion I got that worked was using the mobile website where the form was functional. I managed to submit it and got a confirmation email that the application was pending,” she told Malaysiakini.
Heng said it took about two days and 10 tries before she was able to register for postal voting, adding that it was a frustrating process.
“I was close to giving up a few times. Considering the high stakes of voter registration it really should not be this fragmented,” she added.
Several organisations and activists have issued guidelines on navigating the EC website for postal voter registration, while the 1B form (Borang 1B) can be accessed here. - Mkini
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