MP: Expedite postal voting to enable people to vote with ease
KUCHING: Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii wants the Election Commission (EC) to expedite the postal voting process to enable voters to do so with ease.
He said this following an estimate made by Bersih Sarawak that up to 20 per cent of eligible Sarawakian and Sabahan voters are living and working in Peninsular Malaysia and a good number of Peninsular Malaysians are doing likewise in Sarawak and Sabah.
Dr Yii said such reform was even more pertinent especially with the upcoming Sarawak elections which must be held latest by August.
“While I do not encourage and believe we are ready for an election this year, the EC must be ready and should set a deadline for such a process to be implemented in time for the Sarawak elections,” he said in a statement yesterday.
He added the EC must at least be ready to make certain adjustments and procedural reforms.
“This is for a nationwide election, especially in implementing the necessary SOPs including absentee voting or extending postal voting to either vulnerable population or those working or studying outside the states they are from.
“Absentee or postal voting would make it easier for voters residing in other states to vote instead of them having to return home and causing a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases, as what happened in Sabah,” he said.
This would require the EC to gazette out-of-region voters as advance voters eligible for postal voting under Regulation 3(1)(e) of the Elections (Advance Voting) Regulations 2012.
This includes safety and security measures to make sure any postal or absentee voting process or facilities must be tamper-proof, transparent, fair and convenient for eligible voters so that it will instil public confidence on the system itself.
“I believe that in view of the pandemic, it is the EC’s duty to make it as convenient and safe as possible for voters to cast their votes,” he said.
Any inconveniences imposed on voters either directly or indirectly through unnecessary regulations or non-availability of facilities can be construed as a suppression of the fundamental rights of a voter.
Such reforms are important not just for the pandemic, but also to encourage more voters’ participation especially for elections in Sarawak and Sabah.
“Many Malaysians are compelled to find jobs far from their homes due to unequal economic development among the states.
“They should not be further burdened financially or put at risk during this pandemic by having to travel back to their constituencies just to exercise their right to vote,” he said.
Despite calling for certain adjustments and procedural reforms, Dr Yii maintained that having a conventional general election this year would be disastrous.
“This is because the nation is still reeling from the health fallout from the recently concluded Sabah elections, which sparked the third wave in the country.
“That should serve as a reminder that the Covid-19 virus does not take a leave of absence so that an election can be held. While we will be receiving Covid19 vaccine this year, we must remember that the vaccine itself is not a ‘silver bullet’ that will end the nearly year-long pandemic,” he said.
Depending on the vaccines we will receive from different companies in batches and the National Vaccination Strategy, Dr Yii said Malaysia was probably looking until 2022 to achieve 70 per cent of its population receiving the vaccination, to acquire some sort of herd immunity.
Either way, he thinks Malaysia will have to wait until the majority of its people is immunised before an election with necessary adjustments could be considered.