GLOBAL Bersih (GB) has called on Malaysians abroad to play their role in ensuring their ballots reach Malaysia in time for the state elections.

Polls watchdog secretary-general Nirmala Devi Windgaetter said it will be assisting Malaysians by making sure their postal votes are collected and promptly sent back home.

In order to achieve that, GB is currently in the process of coordinating with its networks and identifying what needs to be done.

“At the moment we have been mobilising overseas Malaysians to register as postal voters and also sharing all the crucial information,” said Nirmala.

She, however, said there needs to be a better mechanism for overseas Malaysians in getting their ballot papers reaching home on time.

“I want to emphasise that this ballot-running process should not be normalised as a solution and that everyone gets into ballot-running mode during an election.

“We need a sustainable and effective solution to the system. It is important that every overseas Malaysian use the postal system where possible,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

The Election Commission (EC) last week announced the polling day for six states to be on August 12, with nomination day on July 29 and early voting on August 8.

The campaigning period has been set for 14 days and 9,773,571 registered voters are expected to cast their ballots.

Nirmala said it was difficult to gauge how many overseas voters there are in total because Malaysians do not register at embassies.

“Automatic registration also makes it so much easier for Malaysian living overseas to become voters.

“The fact that overseas voters do not need to register to become eligible to vote is also one reason to why it is difficult to gauge the number.”

She said GB had about 7,300 registered overseas postal voters for the 2018 general election. In last year’s general election, they had more than 48,000.  

“From our last survey we found that there are Malaysians on every continent except Antarctica. Our biggest diaspora is in Singapore.”

Importance of sending ballots back

Nirmala said individuals or organisations bringing back ballots outside the existing postal system is a last resort for those who cannot send their ballot home on time.

“It should not be normalised as a solution as it will result in the EC ignoring the problems of the current system and not doing anything to ensure it works effectively.

“GB doesn’t aim to bring a certain number of ballots back but works on the basis of need.

“For example, if the ballots are sent out on time, our biggest diaspora, Singapore, might be still able to return the ballots using the postal system.”

She said GB was funded with donations from supporters all over the world.

“I want to stress that not a single person in GB gets paid a salary or even an allowance. We are a 100% volunteer-run organisation and depend on donations from the public.”

Nirmala added that GB only promises what it can deliver.

“We had difficulties sending ballots to remote areas in Sabah and Sarawak (in GE15).

“But, we informed the public earlier on the areas that we would be delivering so we could take responsibility for the ballots we received,” she added. – July 11, 2023.