ELECTORAL reform group Tindak Malaysia is calling for the amendment of election law to recognise as postal voters those who reside outstation but within the country.

At present, only Malaysians who are abroad are recognised as postal voters.

Voters who work or reside out of their voting constituencies within Malaysia are forced to return home to vote, and this has proven to be financially hard for many, especially those who are from Sabah and Sarawak but living in the peninsula.

In the past elections, civil society groups have organised mercy flights or subsidised fares for these voters to head back home to vote.

Tindak Malaysia said in a statement today that the Elections (Registration of Electors) Regulations must be amended to ensure electoral integrity and inclusiveness of the Malaysian adult population.

The group also wants the Election Commission to make formal its policy of directing disabled voters (OKU) and elderly voters to the easiest voting channel as sub regulations.

Tindak Malaysia said the EC has introduced and maintained progressive policies/conventions such as prioritising OKU voters to be directed to the first or most conveniently located voting channel since 2019 and this similarly applies to elderly voters over the decades. 

However, it wants this policy to be made official through an amendment to the law.

“We call upon the Election Commission  and the Malaysian government to thoroughly study and consider our proposal to start on a new round of amendments to better address the current challenges faced by the electoral system in our country,” it said. – June 7, 2024.