May 9 date raises hackles
PETALING JAYA: Electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 has expressed disappointment with the May 9 polling date announced by the Election Commission (EC) yesterday.
“Not only is the campaigning period at the minimum of 11 days, polling day, which falls on a school and working day, would create inconvenience to the public, especially those who need to return to their hometowns to vote.
“Bersih 2.0 appeals to employers to give workers time off to vote, with no deductions, as required under Section 25(1) of the Election Offences Act,” Bersih said in a statement.
The group added that setting polling day on a weekday also creates unnecessary inconvenience to party polling and counting agents and volunteer observers as they would need to take time off from work.
“We can now expect to see an even lower voter turnout.
“We call upon the caretaker federal government to announce polling day as a public holiday and for the state governments to declare a public holiday on the day before or after polling day. (Alternatively), all employers should allow two days of unrecorded leave for voters,” it said.
Former Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah also expressed disappointment with the announcement.
“(This) can only be perceived as another attempt by the EC to disenfranchise voters and reduce the opportunities for overseas voters, especially those from Singapore, Brunei, Thailand and the Philippines who may have been planning to come home to vote
“Unless May 9 is declared a public holiday, it will reduce voters’ access,” she said in a statement.
PAS also expressed disappointment over the EC decision. Its deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said not only will this create problems for voters, it may also prevent outstation voters from casting their votes.
“Although the government can announce a public holiday on voting day, the decision to allow polling in (the middle of the week) should not have happened. “It may prove difficult for those in the private sector to cast their votes,” he said.