Bugaya by-election: Applications open for postal voting

KUALA LUMPUR: Applications for domestic and foreign postal voting for the Bugaya state by-election are now open.

Election Commission (EC) secretary Datuk Ikmalrudin Ishak, in a statement on Thursday (Oct 13), said the closing date for applications will be announced after a special meeting to discuss the Bugaya state by-election on Oct 20.

He said the EC received an official notification from the Sabah State Assembly Speaker on the vacancy of the Bugaya state seat on Wednesday (Oct 12).

On Oct 7, 2021, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, consented to the revocation of six ordinances and proclamations of emergency promulgated in 2020 that prevented by-elections from being held in Batu Sapi, Gerik and Bugaya amid the Covid-19 pandemic, effective last Oct 6.

The revocation order was named Emergency (Essential Powers) (Revocation) Ordinance 2022; Proclamation of Emergency (No. 2) (Revocation) 2022 for Parliamentary Constituency P.185 Batu Sapi, Sabah; Proclamation of Emergency (No. 2) (Revocation) 2022 for Parliamentary Constituency P.054 for Gerik, Perak and Proclamation of Emergency (No. 3) (Revocation) 2022 for the State Constituency N.66 of Bugaya, Sabah.

Ikmalrudin said applications for postal voting for those in Category 1A, comprising election workers, EC members/officers, members of the police force and the army, as well as the media, should be done by filling Form 1A which can be downloaded from the EC's official portal.

The completed forms are to be sent to the office of the respective returning officers.

They can refer to the EC official portal for the address and information on the returning officers concerned, he said.

For those in Category 1B (Malaysian citizens who are abroad) and 1C (agencies/organisations), the applications have to be submitted online at the portal: https://myspr.spr.gov.my/login, he said. – Bernama