Wisma Putra should centralise overseas voter info, says Global Bersih

PETALING JAYA: Some Malaysian foreign missions are sharing wrong and outdated information about overseas voting on their websites, even as registration for overseas voting opened on June 24, says election watchdog Global Bersih.

In a statement yesterday, the Geneva-based body suggested that Wisma Putra centralise all overseas voting-related information on its portal, which should include links to relevant information on the Election Commission’s website.

“All the information should be in Bahasa Malaysia and English to ensure effective messaging.

“This link should be shared by all Malaysian foreign missions worldwide on their respective websites so that all inquiries are directed to the main information page on Wisma Putra’s portal.

“This will help ensure that accurate, consistent and updated information is shared without burdening individual Malaysian foreign missions,” said Global Bersih, which assisted overseas Malaysians send home their ballots in time during past general elections.

Malaysians abroad, it added, had to re-register as overseas voters for each election.

It cited the Malaysian mission in New Zealand as still sharing outdated information from GE13, such as asking overseas Malaysians to register manually at the mission in Wellington and receive their ballot papers at the High Commission.

It said other obsolete requirements included the need for 30 days presence in Malaysia within five years before the elections, the exclusion of Malaysians residing in south Thailand and Singapore, the voting age of 21, and that overseas Malaysians must travel back to their constituencies in Malaysia in order to vote.

Another example of misinformation was on the website of the Malaysian Embassy in Oman, as Global Bersih pointed out.

“It states that the voting age is 21 and that overseas Malaysians can register only at a Malaysian foreign mission office to become voters,” it said.

Many Malaysian foreign missions, such as in Hong Kong and New York, have no information at all regarding overseas voting in general or the upcoming state elections.

“It is unacceptable that Malaysian foreign missions are providing inaccurate or no information on overseas voting processes given that they are the first point of contact for overseas Malaysians to obtain reliable information.

“This misinformation will further confuse the Malaysian diaspora which is very often forgotten in voter mobilisation efforts,” it stated.