KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) submitted a letter to the Sabah office of the Election Commission of Malaysia (SPR), urging immediate electoral reforms to allow Sabahans and Sarawakians residing outside their home states within Malaysia to vote via postal voting.
SAPP Supreme Council member cum Vice Youth Chief Yong Yit Jee said the letter calls upon SPR to amend the Elections Act 1958 and related regulations to enable Sabahans and Sarawakians residing in Peninsular Malaysia for work or education to cast their votes by post during elections, without having to bear the financial and logistical burden of returning home physically to vote.
“At present, Malaysians residing overseas are already permitted to vote through postal voting facilities.
“However, many Malaysians working within their own country, particularly Sabahans and Sarawakians in Peninsular Malaysia, continue to face substantial obstacles in exercising their constitutional right to vote.
“This issue disproportionately affects Sabah and Sarawak voters due to the high cost of air travel between East Malaysia and Peninsular Malaysia, especially during election periods.
“Many Sabahans genuinely wish to fulfil their democratic responsibility, but expensive airfares, work commitments and limited leave often make it difficult or impossible for them to return home to vote.
“Democracy should not depend on whether a citizen can afford a flight ticket home during election season. Electoral participation must be accessible and fair to all Malaysians regardless of where they work or study within the Federation,” he said in a statement, Saturday.
In today’s Malaysia, Yong said where internal migration for employment and education is increasingly common, the electoral framework must evolve accordingly.
“Expanding postal voting eligibility would strengthen voter participation, improve electoral inclusiveness and better reflect modern realities.
“Malaysia already possesses an existing postal voting mechanism and electoral verification framework. Extending such facilities to domestic out-of-state voters is both practical and administratively feasible.
“With the next General Election potentially approaching within the near future, SAPP believes electoral reforms concerning voter accessibility should be addressed without further delay to ensure that Sabahans and Sarawakians working outside their home states are not unfairly disadvantaged in exercising their constitutional right to vote,” he said.
SAPP therefore urged SPR to seriously consider the proposed reforms ahead of future General Elections and State Elections to ensure a more inclusive, accessible and representative democratic process for all Malaysians.
