Parliament: Postal votes to remain

(Bernama) – The Government has no plans to review or change the postal voting system for police and the armed forces, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.

Nazri said the Election Commission does allow representatives of parties that contest in a particular election to witness the voting process to ensure it was carried out in a fair and transparent manner.

“The Commission feels that the postal voting system is still relevant in accordance with election procedures,” Nazri told the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday when answering a question by Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Rahman (PAS-Pengkalan Chepa) who wanted to know if the Government had any plans to change the system to one like that in Thailand.

He also refuted Abdul Halim’s claim that there were 2.5 million names of deceased voters in the electoral list, saying the Commission updates the electoral list every six months, according to the list of deceased voters provided by the National Registration Department.

Nazri said that the status of wives of police and armed forces personnel would also remain in the current capacity since the EC does not intend to change their status to normal voters. “If the wife lives with her husband who is on duty in Sarawak but registered as a voter in Pengkalan Chepa, it does not make sense for her to return to Pengkalan Chepa to vote, since it involves cost, logistics and other matters,” he said.

He added that the postal voting system provided an opportunity for police, armed forces, civil defence forces and students studying abroad to fulfill their obligations as voters.

“However, that does not mean the Commission will not improve certain aspects of the system because they (the Commission) are always responsive to changes,” he said.

He claimed that it has become the norm for the Opposition to start complaining to the Commission whenever it lost an election.