NGOs prep to sort postal ballots flown home on passenger flights

 

GE15 | Malaysians carrying postal ballots on passenger flights have been urged to make their way to designated points at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), where volunteers are stationed.

The volunteers from Undi18, Global Bersih and the Global Malaysian Network will collect these ballot papers and distribute them to their designated polling stations through a runner network, Global Bersih said today.

They will be stationed at the following locations on Friday (Nov 18) from 3pm to 11pm.

The landmarks for the two collection points are:

• 4Fingers Crispy Chicken (Level 3 KLIA 1 International Arrival, Gate 3); and

• Menara Medical Clinic (Level 3 KLIA 1 International Arrival, Gate 8)

They are also urged to provide their names, arrival times and the number of ballots they are carrying ahead of time, via a designated WhatsApp group.

Malaysians are sending ballot papers via passenger flights as many of the ballots arrived to overseas voters too late.

This means they cannot be sent back to Returning Offices before the end of polling time on Nov 19.

‘Please sort and bag ballots’

Those carrying ballot papers home are urged to sort and bag the ballots before the flight for ease of collection.

"We will likely be swamped due to the number of flyers arriving and ballots heading for Returning Offices nationwide.

"Please don't make our work harder because we're on a tight timeline.

"Read the instructions carefully so you can 'pass the baton' and off we go," the NGO said on Twitter.

It also provided pictorial instructions on how to pack and label the ballot papers.

For instance, ballot papers going to the same returning officers are to be sealed in small ziplock bags, and then sorted in larger ziplock bags according to states, Global Bersih advised.

"We're calling for the use of plastic bags to protect the ballots from getting wet.

"Runners may be caught in the rain as it's the monsoon season," the instructions read.

The NGO runner network to collect and deliver postal votes was set up in anticipation of the late arrival of ballot papers, which happened in 2018.

At the time, overseas voters reported rushing to airports and passing their ballot papers to airline pilots or passengers bound for Kuala Lumpur.

Their ballots were delivered to polling centres by hand by volunteers who had set up ad hoc free runner services from KLIA.

In 2018, postal voters made up less than two percent of voters, with the numbers to be higher this time with automatic voter registration and minimum voting age reduced from 21 to 18. - Mkini