Wan Junaidi said postal voting should be allowed for students studying in other states, noting that it would be costly for them to fly home just to vote.

“The best thing we can do is to perhaps make use of the universities to implement postal voting,” he said at an event at Universiti Putra Malaysia here today.

He pointed out that the US had implemented electronic voting since 2005, allowing people to cast their vote “by the side of the road” through a dedicated device.

“If they can do it, why can’t we?” he said, adding that the Election Commission (EC) should have these technologies in place by now.

“Imagine flying to a rural area with just one device to take the votes. It would be simple and cheaper since we are spending over RM1 billion for the elections,” he said.

Wan Junaidi said these were suggestions he had given then EC chairman Azhar Harun after Pakatan Harapan took over the federal government in May 2018.

He said he had been invited by Azhar to give suggestions on what could be implemented by the EC for elections.

GPS has final say on Santubong seat

When asked if he was defending his Santubong parliamentary seat in the elections, Wan Junaidi said he would leave it to Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) to make the final decision.

“I will not comment on the Santubong matter. I will allow GPS to make a decision. If the party is quiet, then I will remain quiet,” he said.

Yesterday, FMT reported that Wan Junaidi did not want to defend the seat he has held for four terms since 2004.

Reliable sources said he requested not to be fielded as a candidate and proposed that his party, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), nominate his political secretary, Syed Hamzah Syed Paie, instead.

Caretaker tourism minister Nancy Shukri has also been tipped to contest for Wan Junaidi’s seat, with a party source saying the former Batang Sadong MP was the right person to develop the constituency into a leading tourist destination.