PETALING JAYA, Jan 10 — Polls reform watchdog Bersih 2.0 today urged the Election Commission (EC) to abolish domestic postal voting within a week, saying the move is necessary to prevent electoral fraud.
Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah said the recent move by the EC in October and December last year to gazette new categories of postal voters consisting of civil servants from nine government departments was alarming.
Under the EC’s gazette exercise, personnel from the immigration, national registration, prisons, fire and rescue, maritime enforcement departments, police, Malaysia Civil Defence, National Disaster Management Agency and medical workers may cast their ballots via postal votes.
“As the postal voting process is unclear and shrouded in secrecy, there is the distinct possibility of vote tampering, security of the ballot boxes, as well as the question of the EC’s integrity which may affect public confidence in it,” she claimed during a press conference which saw deputy chairperson Shahrul Rahman and national steering committee member Rama Ramanathan also present.
Maria cited the 13th General Elections in 2013, claiming BN would have 30 less parliamentary seats than it does now had it not been for the turnaround caused by advance and postal votes.
“Since Malaysia also has advance voting, where voters come in a day before the polling date to cast their ballots, it should be retained while domestic postal voting be abolished
“Equally important is for ballots cast and counted on the same day,” she said, adding the advance votes can be combined with the polling votes for the electoral results.
Ordinarily postal voting can range from one to two weeks before the polling day, with the ballots counted after polling centres are closed.
However, Bersih 2.0 does not object to international postal voting, where Malaysian citizens abroad can cast their ballots at embassies, since it is their democratic right to do so.
“Nonetheless, the EC should not be expanding new categories for postal voting given the problematic and ambiguous framework, when there are other methods at their disposal,” Maria said.
The EC’s decision to gazette the new categories was explained as allowing individuals including police officers and firemen who might be on duty during the polling day to exercise their voting rights.
Bersih 2.0’s deadline demand is the latest in its campaign to abolish postal voting, which was launched in April last year. In May it submitted a memorandum to the EC, urging them to consider implementing nine proposals for more transparent and fairer elections.
