BRUSSELS — Malaysians living abroad must have the same right to vote in elections as those at home, said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The prime minister said he had raised the issue of postal voting for overseas Malaysians with the Election Commission (EC).
“The EC is an independent body… but I have raised this matter to them.
“They must give opportunity to every single Malaysian to vote,” Bernama quoted him saying at a gathering with about 200 members of the Malaysian diaspora here yesterday.
Anwar, who arrived on Sunday (Jan 19) for a two-day working visit to Belgium, said this when asked about the difficulties faced by Malaysians abroad during elections in their home country.
“I even said don’t go through the embassy (for the voting process).
“Use some mechanism so people can come and vote, even if it means adding extra funds for this,” he said, adding that the EC was receptive to his suggestion.
Malaysians residing abroad have often faced problems and delays in the overseas voting process, which uses postal voting. Among the complaints in previous elections are late arrival of postal ballots from Malaysia, which leaves overseas voters little time to mail them back in time for counting.
Other complaints, as collated by civil society groups, include the short registration period for overseas postal voters, high delivery cost of postal votes, the accessibility and inclusivity of the Election Commission website, lack of awareness, and difficulty in find Malaysian witnesses abroad. – January 20, 2025