PAS Youth objects to overseas postal voting
PAS Youth has objected to the Election Commission’s (EC) suggestion for allowing postal voting for overseas Malaysians, saying there are more secure mechanisms.
PAS Youth has objected to the Election Commission’s (EC) suggestion for allowing postal voting for overseas Malaysians, saying there are more secure mechanisms.
“PAS Youth believes EC’s suggestion is not relevant with the times, as (postal voting) is exposed to all sorts of manipulation or fraud by certain quarters.
“Regardless, we agree that overseas citizens should be allowed to vote, however not by making them postal voters,” said PAS Youth vice-chief Raja Ahmad Iskandar Raja Yaacob (
right
) in a statement today.
He said there was ample proof and witnessing of fraud in previous postal voting, that was easy to tamper with to ensure the victory of a particular candidate.
“We ask, if such cheating can take place in military camps in the country, what guarantee is there that fraud will not take place in a postal voting system abroad?” he said.
Last year PAS had produced an ex-army clerk who claimed that he and a colleague had been ordered to mark army postal ballot papers during the 1986 general election.
“What is worrying is that if postal voting is implemented (for overseas Malaysians), even more opportunities will arise for someone to get an easy election win through this system (of fraud).
“In fact, it has become common knowledge that postal voting is considered a ‘fixed deposit’ by certain parties, where in any parliamentary seat that has a large number of postal voters, for sure certain candidates will feel confident of a comfortable victory even without campaigning,” said Raja Ahmad.
‘Vote at embassies’
Raja Ahmad suggested as a better option that Malaysian embassies be made polling and ballot counting centres.
“EC officers and representatives of the political parties contesting would be allowed to witness the ballot casting and counting process.
“This way, the election result can be accepted with upmost transparency and confidence,” he said.
He urged the EC to explain its plans to implement postal voting before taking the proposal to Parliament.
The EC announced on Wednesday that overseas voters would be allowed to vote as postal voters and was in the midst of preparing the necessary legislative changes.
While the move to finally allow overseas Malaysians to vote from abroad has been lauded, critics see the postal voting process as being prone to tampering .
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