‘PM clueless on overseas voting processes’

MOV says that the Election Regulations 2002 prevent nearly one million Malaysians overseas from voting.

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has been criticised by an overseas movement for his apparent ignorance over voter and voting registration processes for Malaysians abroad.

MyOverseasVote (MOV) said that Najib was asked during the 5th Annual Malaysian Student Leaders Summit in Kuala Lumpur last Sunday as to how Malaysians studying and working abroad could cast their votes.

He reportedly answered that he would look into the practicalities of allowing overseas voting and the necessity of amending the Federal Constitution to allow for this. He also assured the summit that his administration is committed to and will undertake electoral reform.

In a statement today, MOV expressed disappointment that Najib appeared to be in the dark about overseas voting and referred to Article 119 of the constitution.

The article provides that every Malaysian citizen has the right to vote so long as he is at least 21 years old and registered either as a voter resident in a constituency or as an “Absent Voter”.

MOV also pointed out that pursuant to the Elections (Postal Voting) Regulations 2003, all absent voters are entitled to receive postal ballots when an election is called.

“Unfortunately the regulations governing the registration of absent voters currently discriminate between citizens on the grounds of their occupation and employment,” MOV said.

The Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations 2002 allowed only three categories of Malaysian citizens to register as absent voters.

The three are:

• serving members of a Malaysian, Commonwealth or foreign military and their spouses,

• civil servants serving outside Peninsular or East Malaysia and their spouses, and

• full-time students studying outside Peninsular or East Malaysia and their spouses.

“It thereby excludes nearly a million Malaysians stationed overseas who work in the private sector or who are retired,” MOV stated.

“The prime minister should explain why a Malaysian serving with a foreign military is entitled to vote as an absent voter but not a Malaysian who works overseas for a Malaysian or multinational company.”

MOV further referred to its recent survey findings that Malaysian embassies, high commissions and consulates worldwide are regularly turning away students on spurious and false grounds when they try to register to vote.

Passing the buck

Meanwhile Foreign Affairs Minister Anifah Aman met with Malaysians in Melbourne on Monday and agreed that “every Malaysian overseas has the right to” vote but added  that “it’s not easy to implement”.
MOV however reminded Anifah that a system already exists to enable students, civil servants and the armed forces who are overseas to vote with a postal vote.

When asked about the progress of appointing assistant registrars at overseas missions as suggested by the Election Commission (EC) in January, Anifah had said that the EC had to brief his ministry first.

“Believe me, we are working on it but these things take time,” he reportedly said. “And not everything that works overseas can work in Malaysia. We cannot compare mature democracies to our situation here.”

“For those who want to vote, we must put in the effort to allow people to vote. Perhaps a solution we can consider is to set up voting centres at the consulates for people to vote, but we can’t set one up in remote areas”.

But an unconvinced MOV concluded, “The problem with overseas voting lay solely in the nonsensical and discriminatory regulations that have been drawn up by the EC and the government, coupled with the latter’s failure even to comply with its ow existing regulations”.