MIRI – Sarawak’s Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) has joined the call for the Election Commission (EC) to allow out-of-state Sarawakians to register as postal voters and absentee voters.
Party secretary for the Ba’kelalan branch Sam Laya said that Sarawakians living, working, and studying in other states in Malaysia will find it difficult to fly back to Sarawak just to vote.
“The currently risky Covid-19 situation, the lack of seats on limited flights, high airfares, long travel distances, plus the bad weather will see many Sarawakians being unable to come back in time for polling.
“We don’t want the coming state election to see a very low turnout of voters, but if flight situations and the Covid-19 trend pose difficulties, the turnout may not be good.
“There are many factors surrounding the coming state election that will pose challenges to voters.
“We hope the EC can tackle these issues before the election,” Laya, a potential PDP-Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) candidate for Ba’kelalan told The Vibes today.
PDP is part of the GPS ruling coalition. The other components are Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu, Sarawak United Peoples Party, and Parti Rakyat Sarawak.
GPS controls 68 of the 82 state constituencies.
Online applications for postal votes for two categories of voters for the 12th Sarawak election will be open from November 8-24.
The EC said online applications are open for voters under categories 1B (overseas Sarawakians) and 1C (those working in the nine agencies in the security and health sectors).
For police, army, and media personnel, the EC will issue a notice later.
Those who are keen can apply online and those with queries can call 03-8892-7080.
The state assembly was dissolved on November 3, after the Agong lifted the emergency imposed on Sarawak due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The dissolution of the state assembly means that the EC has 60 days from November 3 to conduct the state polls.
Bersih Sarawak and other social organisations have prior to this called on the EC to allow Sarawakians working, studying, or living in other states to be able to vote as absentees or as postal voters.
At present, Sarawakians in the peninsular states, Sabah, and Labuan are required to physically cast their votes by going back to their home settlements.
Sarawak Bersih chairwoman Ann Teo said many out-of-state Sarawakians may not be able to return to Sarawak to cast their votes due to various factors including the pandemic and high airfares. – The Vibes, November 17, 2021
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