KUCHING: If the civil servants who are required to be on duty on polling day can apply for postal voting, there is no reason why such postal voting categories cannot be extended to Sabah and Sarawak voters who are residing in the peninsula in the 15th General Election (GE15).
Bersih Sarawak chairman Ann Teo said there were an estimated 500,000 Sarawakians and Sabahans residing in West Malaysia.
“This is a big number if compared with the number of registered voters of Sarawak 1.9 million as of February this year.
“The rights (of Sarawakians residing in the peninsula) are now threatened with the uncertainty about Covid-19 and prohibitive costs of air travel,” she told New Sarawak Tribune.
Teo said for instance, it was quite common for a Melaka voter, who was working in Selangor or Klang Valley to keep or maintain their voting address in Melaka state rather than changing it to the Klang Valley.
“What more to say Sarawakians and Sabahan who are residing in West Malaysia out of necessity to get an education or to earn a living,” she said.
Last week, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin told the Dewan Rakyat that the Election Commission (EC) has no plans yet to extend the postal voting category to Sabah and Sarawak voters who are residing in the peninsula in next general election.
Instead, the EC recommended voters to apply for change of voting constituency based on their latest place of residence.
However, Teo said, there was no legal obligation for the voters to change their voting address to their latest place of residence, hence, many continued to maintain their polling address in their respective constituency or hometown.
“What compels them is probably the fact that their family members are still living in Sarawak/ Sabah and the voter might also have a ‘bilik’ in the longhouse they belong to.
“Additionally, they might have rights to customary lands which they might lose if they change their address. Not to mention the self-identity of the Sarawakian this being another factor that will discourage them from changing address,” she added.
Teo said many Sarawakians still maintain local ties and interests in their hometown or constituency, hence, they see the need to be able to influence or decide the choice of the elected representative of that area.
She said in any event, it was the duties and responsibilities of the EC to make elections as inclusive and participative as possible in order to uphold the legitimacy of the elected institution.
Currently, employees of nine departments and agencies, namely, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, Prisons Department, Fire and Rescue Department, Health Department, Auxiliary Police, Malaysian Civil Defence Force (APM), Immigration Department, National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) and the National Registration Department – who are eligible to vote and required to be on duty on polling day can apply for postal voting.
“If the civil servants can apply for postal voting, there should be no reason why Sarawakians and Sabahan in West Malaysia cannot be granted postal voting as well,” she said.
“Alternatively, the EC should consider other types of special voting arrangements for them, namely advance voting; with prior registration as special advance voters appearing in a separate roll for the 31 parliamentary constituencies in Sarawak,” she added.
