They are questioning the wisdom of an Election Commission (EC) recommendation as conveyed to the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday by deputy law minister Mas Ermieyati Samsudin.
Mas said Sabahans and Sarawakians living on the peninsula were encouraged to change their voting constituencies to their latest places of residence to facilitate voting in an election.
“That is the most ridiculous suggestion I have heard in a long time,” Sarawak political activist Francis Paul Siah told FMT.
“This means they will be required to become peninsula voters. This is not right.”
He said postal voting, which is currently allowed for a few groups, should be allowed for all Borneo voters residing in Peninsular Malaysia.
“Why is postal voting not in the pipeline for this group of people? Why can’t the government make changes?”
He said he would like to ask the government whether it thought West Malaysians working in East Malaysia would be willing to change their voting addresses.
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob told the Dewan Rakyat last month that postal voting was allowed only for staff and members of the EC, media practitioners covering an election, select government staff on duty during an election and army and police personnel.
Political analyst Oh Ei Sun said it was puzzling that some civil servants were allowed to vote by post and ordinary members of the public were not.
Sabah Human Rights Centre president Sherzali H Asli said it was the right of East Malaysians living on the peninsula to vote in their home constituencies instead of being compelled to cast their ballots in new constituencies.
He noted that during the 2018 general election, postal voting was extended by way of a gazette to Malaysians living abroad and to workers in nine different agencies.
“Taking this into account, I see no reason why postal voting shouldn’t be extended to Sabahans and Sarawakians in the peninsula, given that Sabah and Sarawak are their home states and they are intrinsically connected to the issues therein.
“Logic must dictate. This is especially in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has shown to be a major obstacle against East Malaysians wanting to travel back during elections to cast their votes,” he said.
Political analyst Awang Azman Pawi said it would be logical to extend postal voting not only to Sabah and Sarawak voters in West Malaysia but also to Malaysians living or studying in neighbouring countries.
“At a time when the economy is down and sources of income are not guaranteed, it makes it more difficult for Sabahans and Sarawakians to return home,” he said.
“With travel costs now getting higher due to the pandemic, postal voting is the better choice.”
He said the EC’s recommendation was a hindrance to the democratic process, adding: “This seems to suggest there are attempts to make it harder for Sabah and Sarawak voters to cast their ballots.”
Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin said the alternative to postal voting would be remote voting.
“This means outstation voters can cast their ballots in the towns they are staying and vote counting would be conducted there,” he said.
Before the Sabah election last year, Upko proposed that the EC open voting centres for Sabahans residing in Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and Singapore.
The party’s deputy president, Donald Mojuntin, said this would be an alternative to postal voting, which the EC had said would not be possible for the state polls.
Speaking to FMT, Mojuntin said remote voting had become common around the world since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He also said Upko’s study of the 2019 electoral roll suggested that an estimated 18% or more than 200,000 Sabah voters were outside the state. These do not include many young Sabahans who have not changed their addresses because they have migrated only temporarily for work or study.