Call for postal voting for Sarawak voters not in state

PETALING JAYA: Postal voting should be allowed for Sarawak voters based in Sabah and in the peninsula, say 17 Sarawak-based civil society organisations.

The group, which includes Bersih Sarawak, called for the Election Commission (EC) to provide the means for Sarawak voters outside the state to vote by post, pointing out that many will not be able to afford the costly air tickets back home.

“If voters who live and work in Singapore and Brunei are allowed by the EC to cast postal votes as in the Melaka and in the coming Sarawak elections, then voters residing in the peninsula and Sabah should also be accorded the same access by expanding the existing absentee voting method to them.

“Sarawakians living or studying in Peninsular Malaysia should not be penalised and forced to spend large amounts of hard-earned money for air tickets just to fly across the South China Sea to have the right to vote.

“During this pandemic, it is even more imperative for the EC to extend such arrangements to enfranchise Sarawakians in the peninsula and Sabah to ensure a credible turnout level,” the group stated in a memorandum to Sarawak EC director Jasni Jubli in Kuching.

The group also requested that the application period for those overseas to vote in the Sarawak election be extended to three days before Nomination Day. The application period started on Nov 8 and ended yesterday.

Another request is for the EC to allow all political parties contesting in the Sarawak election to be given equal time on state-owned television.

“The almost total ban on physical campaigning as imposed in the Melaka election, save for letter-box leafleting and roving loudspeakers, is unacceptable. Such constraints, in view Covid-19 safety concerns, must be accompanied by alternative forms of free broadcasting time for political broadcasts via state-owned TV and radio.

With Sarawak’s geographical landscape providing a challenge for parties to campaign, the group also called for political gatherings or ceramah to be allowed, but under strict Covid-19 SOP.

“Innovative protocols are necessary in Sarawak due to the difficulties and peculiarities of our constituencies, many of which are geographically large and have sporadic and inconsistent telecommunication facilities and non-existent Internet coverage,” the group said.