PETALING JAYA: Many Malaysians abroad immediately took the opportunity to register as postal voters following the dissolution of Parliament on Monday, but some were concerned about the reliability of the process.
“Casting a vote is my responsibility as a Malaysian citizen. I am also encouraging my loved ones both here and back home to cast their votes,” said London-based medical student Ian Soh, 21.
However, the first-time voter from Johor was concerned about postal votes making it back to Malaysia in time for counting.
“It would be good for Malaysia to have a system that helps track the status of our votes so we postal voters can have peace of mind,” he said.US-based video producer Aaron Michael Thaddeus, 36, said he learned about the postal vote on social media following the dissolution of Parliament.
“I want to exercise my democratic rights despite being literally across the globe.
“This will also be my first time voting, be it physically or through the postal system, and I am looking forward to it,” said the Selangorian currently residing in North Carolina.
South Korea-based postgraduate student Nur Iman Izzati Adnan, also a first-time voter, said the process of registering for the postal vote was rather complicated.
“I’m also concerned about the reliability of postal votes and hope the government looks into creating an online system for overseas voters such as an app or website for Malaysian overseas to make the process easier,” said the 25-year-old, who is studying in Daegu.Following the implementation of Undi18, which lowered the minimum voting age to 18, and automatic voter registration, the electoral roll increased by a whopping 5.8 million voters.
Of that number, 1.2 million are Malaysians aged 18 to 20, while the remaining 4.6 million are those who were not registered earlier.
Malaysians living abroad who want to cast postal votes must register a MySPR account through myspr.spr.gov.my.
After creating an account, users need to click “Permohonan undi pos” (Register for postal voting) and fill in the reasons for their application and their mailing address (see graphic).
On Monday, the Election Commission announced that applications for domestic and international postal voting were open immediately, with its secretary Datuk Ikmalrudin Ishak saying the closing date for applications would be announced after the polling date was set.
Electoral workers, police and army personnel as well as members of the media must apply for postal votes manually by completing Form 1A and submitting it to the Returning Officer’s office at each polling division.
Since the Undi18 Bill was gazetted last year, Malaysians aged 18 and above are now automatically registered in the country’s electoral roll.
The public can check their status, including verifying their polling district, at mysprsemak.spr.gov.my.
On Monday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the King had given his consent to dissolve Parliament, paving the way for the 15th General Election to be held within 60 days.
