A LOCAL indigenous rights group wants the Election Commission (EC) to use the coming Sarawak elections as a test case to implement a fair and hassle-free voting process for outstation voters who are away from their hometowns and home-state.
The Society for Rights of Indigenous Peoples of Sarawak (Scrips) secretary general Michael Jok said there are a lot of Sarawak folk working in peninsula Malaysia, and also as many rural Sarawak longhouse natives working and living in big cities and towns within Sarawak who are compelled to go back to their hometowns just to cast their ballots.
He told The Vibes the next Sarawak state election, which is due in about two years, should give the EC time to devise a system where casting of votes for any constituency can be done in any district without the need for travel to a voter's origin district or state.
“As is the case now with regards to Sarawak folk, there are tens of thousands working or studying in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor and other states.
“There are also tens of thousands of rural Sarawak folk from remote districts like Baram and Belaga who are working in big cities and towns in Sarawak like Kuching, Miri, Bintulu and Sibu.
Jok said many could not afford the expensive airfare or manage the difficult travel logistics.
“Flights from KL to Miri can cost more than a thousand ringgit during peak season.
“Travelling from Kuching to an interior town like Baram can cost more than a thousand ringgit that also includes river transport.
“We should already have such a system in place ready for the 2026 Sarawak state elections,” he said.
Jok urged the EC to study the balloting procedures in very large countries like the United States to see how they used very advanced telecommunication facilities to carry out their polling.
The same must be done for peninsula Malaysians who are in Sarawak and Sabah to cast their ballots without having to fly back to the peninsula, Bersih said.
Bersih – the national watchdog for free and fair elections in Malaysia – had officially submitted a proposal to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusuf on this recently.
A delegation of Bersih leaders visited Fadillah in Putrajaya earlier this week and presented the proposal, Bersih had said.
“A mechanism on advanced voting can be set up three days before polling to facilitate the casting of ballots by out-of-state voters throughout Malaysia. This will enable them to vote without having to travel back to their home state as is the case now.
“Mega voting centres can be set up three days before polling in every state to allow these out-of-state voters who are working, studying or residing outside their home states to cast their ballots.
“The EC and the government can work out such a mechanism.
“In line with fair and free elections, voters from every state must be accorded such facilities to exercise their voting rights without having to spend large sums of money on airfares just to get back to their states to vote as is the case now.
“Fadillah said he looks at this proposal positively and agreed on the need for voters to be able to vote conveniently,” said Bersih.
These early advanced votes from out-of-state voters can be kept in secured venues in the respective states and counted on polling day without having to be flown out, said Bersih.
The votes can then be tallied with the respective polling districts after balloting has been completed on polling day. – July 12, 2024.
