PETALING JAYA: The implementation of domestic postal voting across regions will improve voter turnout and democratic participation, say civil society and election reform groups.
Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs chief executive officer Aira Azhari said postal voting would make elections more accessible by removing costly and inconvenient interstate travel for voters.
“Postal voting might help increase voter turnout as it will be more convenient for voters because it eliminates the need to travel, which can be expensive and inconvenient,” she said.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M. Kulasegaran recently said the Election Commission was studying a proposal on the implementation of domestic postal voting.
However, Aira said implementing it before GE16 might be difficult due to the Election Commission (EC) needing a significant increase in funding.
Improving trust in EC would be crucial, she said, adding that any integrity concerns over ballot security and the postal voting process could instead hamper participation.
Bersih chairman Muhammad Faisal Abdul Aziz said domestic postal voting is a long overdue necessity for East Malaysians residing in Peninsular Malaysia and vice versa.
“This change would practically make the voting process much easier by removing the need to travel long distances just to vote.
“We hope EC will implement domestic postal voting before GE16 to better facilitate the people’s rights in terms of access to voting,” he said.
North South Initiative executive director Adrian Pereira said enabling domestic postal voting was key to ensure young voters, who might have just begun their jobs in other states, could vote regardless of financial constraints.
“These youth, who are still early in their careers, make up a significant chunk of voters and would benefit the most, since they wouldn’t need to trouble themselves financially and mentally by being forced to travel back home to vote,” he said.
He added Malaysia should eventually move towards secure digital voting using MyDigital ID, noting that the successful implementation of domestic postal voting is a key step to developing safeguards that could address security concerns.
Engage chairman Thomas Fann said domestic postal voting could cause turnout to rise by up to 10% in Sabah and Sarawak and by up to 5% in Peninsular Malaysia.
“It just requires the EC to amend election regulations and facilitate the necessary facilities, such as designating mega voting centres for advanced domestic postal votes days before polling day,” he said.
