In a joint press conference today, Bersih said Malaysians who are overseas are left in the dark over voting processes each time an election is called.
They are always only notified at the very last moment, said Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah.
“We don’t understand why they want to change the voting process for overseas voters.
“Why can’t they allow them to vote at one location like in previous years, where everyone gathered at the Malaysian embassy in each country?
“Why have they changed the method this year? We are anticipating that things will become very messy.
“At the moment, nobody can guarantee the transparency of what happens from the time the ballot papers are marked in the respective countries and their journey to Malaysia,” she said at the Bersih office.
Bersih reminded the government of its promise to appoint local and international election observers for the 14th general election (GE14).
It urged the government to invite the Commonwealth Observer Group to independently monitor the conduct of GE14.
This is a particularly timely intervention given that Malaysia will be taking up the position of Commonwealth chair in 2020, it said.
Maria also highlighted concerns of whether there is adequate time for the ballot papers to be returned before voting closed at 5pm on polling day.
“Previously, there were about two weeks between dissolution of Parliament and nomination of candidates, and two weeks again between nomination and polling.
“The two weeks’ turnaround time for overseas votes this time is highly risky.
“We urge the EC to ensure a minimum turnaround time of 28 days to ensure that the marked overseas ballots can be received and returned to the voters’ constituency presiding officer in time,” said Maria.
She added that in GE13, more than 30 marginal seats were affected by postal votes, deeming the process as flawed.
She had previously said that the foreign ministry and Malaysian embassies abroad were better equipped at coordinating the collection and return of ballots to Malaysia.
A postal voter, Lydia Chai, who is based in New Zealand, said Wisma Putra seemed to be “washing its hands” off its responsibility in ensuring the postal vote process was done transparently.
“We just want them to stick to one method. Postal voters overseas are very sensitive to voting secrecy and transparency of the entire voting process.
“They want to be sure that their votes will not be jeopardised.
“Now we are not sure if our ballot papers can even reach on time (although using Pos Laju). There is no guarantee of their arrival, or whether there are attempts to tamper with the votes,” she said during the press conference.
Another voter, Bala Chelliah, who is based in Geneva, Switzerland, said the EC must come forward with a permanent voting process.
“It needs to be clear with its standard operating procedure.
“To add to the confusion, EC has changed delivery procedures — from Wisma Putra for GE13 to Pos Malaysia, via Pos Laju, for GE14.
“The lack of a permanent process deters overseas Malaysians from registering as postal voters, with such weak and vulnerable safeguards,” said Bala.
Bala, who is Global Bersih president, added that checks done regarding turnaround time claimed it was highly unlikely that ballot papers could arrive before polling closes at 5pm.
“It typically takes 10 to 15 days for an ordinary post to reach a foreign city from Malaysia and vice versa. Pos Laju speeds up the time and will arrive in five days, but there’s no assurance,” he said.
EC chairman Mohd Hashim Abdullah had earlier said that the foreign ministry would no longer manage postal ballot papers.
He also revealed that Malaysians residing in southern Thailand, Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia’s Kalimantan province could not register as postal voters.
Bersih slams use of POS Malaysia to collect overseas ballots