KOTA KINABALU: A group of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are calling for the Election Commission to expand postal voting rights to out-of-state Sabahans in the upcoming state polls.
The NGOs – Tindak, Bersih, Engage, ROSE and Projek Sama – issued a joint statement suggesting that this expansion could start with three particular groups that are operationally viable in the next three weeks.
“Firstly, students in public universities outside Sabah, estimated to be 40,000-50,000; secondly, Sabahans who are hospitalised or living in nursing homes; and thirdly, candidates, election agents, polling and counting agents (Paca) and other persons on-duty in the state election,” they said.
“We call upon Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to instruct the Higher Education Ministry (MOHE), the Health Ministry (MOH) and the Department of Social Welfare to assist the EC in expanding and coordinating postal voting facilities to as many Sabah voters who cannot vote in their constituency on polling day,” they added.
The group said expanding postal voting requires no amendment of any law and the EC has the powers to declare new categories of individuals to be eligible postal voters via their powers provided by Section 2 Paragraph 3(1)(e) of the Elections (Postal Voting) Regulations 2003 [EPVV].
”To the advantage of the EC, Article 115 of the Federal Constitution requires “all public authorities shall on the request of the Commission (EC) give the Commission such assistance in the discharge of its duties as may be practicable”, they said.
The three groups proposed were based on a careful study of the legal and operational process.
While this short period of registration may limit the number of registered voters (which however makes it easier in operation), it would still be greatly meaningful in the expansion of the right and facility to vote by postal ballot, their statement read.
The group said that if the EC finds these suggestions infeasible, they should publicly explain why, as other NGOs and politicians have also made this call.
They urged all parties in Sabah to promise categorically in their manifesto that the next State Government they form or join would ensure postal voting as a fundamental right for all Sabah diaspora voters in the 16th General Election (GE16).
The group feels that the EC has ignored their concerns and failed to explain why overseas Sabahans can vote by post, while those living in other states within Malaysia cannot.
“More than a continuous marginalisation of Sabahans, it also creates a class division, separating the Sabahan diaspora between those who can afford to vote and those who cannot,” they said.
They reminded both the EC and the Federal Government that the turnout for this Sabah election may be lower than 60% or even 50%, undermining the legitimacy of the next Sabah state legislature and the Sabah state government.
“They must pay attention to two facts. First, this is the second statewide election in Sabah after the implementation of automatic voter registration (AVC) and the lowering of voting age to 18 (Undi18), which expand the electorate and press down turnout rate.
“Second, turnout is historically low in Sabah, lower by 5-7% than the national turnout in 2008-2018,” they pointed out.
Joining the two factors, the turnout rate in the 15th General Election (GE15) was 74.7% nationwide but only 64.4% in Sabah, with a whopping gap of 10.3% point, they said.
“Such low turnout effectively means a ‘vote suppression’ of Sabahans’ voice, whatever the reason,” they said in pushing for the EC to rescind its dogmatic and outdated insistence on residential voting.
They suggested for the EC to undertake two measures after the State Election namely building a database of who qualify as Sabahan out-of-state voters and recategorising permanent categories of postal voters in EPPV and the Elections (Registration of Electors) Regulations (ERER).
