Kota Kinabalu: Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) President Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey G Kitingan has renewed calls for the Federal Government to allow postal voting for Sabahans and Sarawakians residing in Peninsular Malaysia.
He said the proposal, which was recently raised by 23 Sarawak NGOs, should be extended to include Sabah voters and implement swiftly by both federal authorities and the Election Commission.
“For Malaysian voters residing outside their home states within Peninsular Malaysia, there are relatively affordable travel options — such as by car, bus, or rail — to return and cast their votes. In contrast, voters from Sabah and Sarawak are required to incur significantly higher expenses due to their reliance on air travel to return to their home states for voting,” he said in a statement.
He expressed that the long-standing inequality in voting access has denied many Sabahans and Sawarakians their right to vote due to costly travel fees and shortage of flights.
He also pointed out the inconsistency in current policies, noting that Malaysians living overseas are already permitted to vote via postal ballots in cities such as London and New York, whereas Sabahans and Sarawakians in Peninsular Malaysia are not afforded the same privilege.
“I have raised this postal voting issue on numerous occasions publicly and in the Dewan Rakyat but none of the ruling Federal governments have taken action,” he said.
Jeffrey also explained that the mechanism to enable postal voting is already available under the Elections (Postal Voting) Regulations 2003, requiring only an expansion of eligible voter categories and formal gazettement.
He stressed that the change could be implemented within months, well ahead of the anticipated Sarawak elections in mid-2027, to ensure greater voter participation without the burden of travel costs.
“This would enable Sarawak voters residing in Peninsular Malaysia and other parts of the country to cast their ballots via postal voting without incurring the high costs of returning to Sarawak. It would likewise allow Sabah voters to utilise postal voting in their subsequent State elections,” he said.
