00:00 Every vote counts.
00:03 This is a mantra that politicians of all parties repeat when it comes to voting day.
00:08 Parties and candidates want people to come out and vote.
00:11 And why shouldn't they?
00:12 After all, voting is every citizen's duty.
00:15 But for the estimated 500,000 Sabahans and Sarawakians living in West Malaysia,
00:20 going out to vote is a little bit more complex.
00:23 Exorbitant flight tickets, which can cost hundreds of ringgit per way,
00:26 mean voting can be expensive, even if it is a civic duty.
00:30 While postal voting is available,
00:32 East Malaysians living across the South China Sea are not eligible
00:36 unless they are serving in uniformed units or the media.
00:39 Many believe it is time to review the rules,
00:41 especially ahead of the state elections in Sabah and Sarawak due in 2025 or earlier.
00:46 Council of Professors fellow Jeneri Amir is among those who wants the Election Commission
00:51 to consider enabling Sabahans and Sarawakians in West Malaysia to vote via post.
00:56 It's very difficult for them to vote for GE, for state election in Sabah and Sarawak.
01:03 Because of time constraint, they need to apply for leave,
01:08 and more importantly, the cost involved.
01:11 So to solve this problem is by allowing them to have these postal votes.
01:19 But will allowing postal votes have a significant impact on the elections themselves?
01:24 It wouldn't have a very significant effect,
01:26 because after all, these people are taken and scattered all over the place,
01:29 and also from various constituencies.
01:32 So the number probably is not that really big.
01:36 However, he says making postal voting available to East Malaysians in the peninsula
01:40 will help achieve the objective of getting more people to exercise their right to vote.
01:45 Meanwhile, Sarawak Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister,
01:49 Datuk Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah says,
01:51 the EC should not limit itself to just exploring the possibility of opening up postal voting to more Malaysians.
01:58 He says electronic voting is the way to go,
02:00 not just for East Malaysians working in the peninsula,
02:03 but for all voters across the country.
02:05 I think it's time for us to have a relook,
02:09 or SPR or Election Commission to have a relook,
02:13 to allow this electronic voting.
02:19 I have faith in it.
02:20 I believe the system can be improvised to make it easy for those eligible.
02:26 That would definitely create a lot of convenience for voters to be able to vote.
02:33 We keep on reminding eligible voters,
02:36 you must go out and vote, you must go out and vote.
02:38 But we are not making an attempt to improvise the system
02:43 so that eligible voters are able to exercise their rights as citizens.
02:51 To date, only Estonia has implemented an online voting system for its entire electorate,
02:56 but several other countries are looking to do the same.
02:59 On the home front, it may be too early to gauge the impact of allowing postal voting for East Malaysians.
03:04 After all, politics is dynamic.
03:07 What is certain, however, is that the calls to allow postal voting for Sabahans and Sarawakians
03:12 living in West Malaysia are not about to fade away.
03:15 Natasha Bust, FMT News.
