No plans to allow non-Malaysian to act as witness on postal ballot documents - EC

KUALA LUMPUR: The Election Commission (SPR) does not intend to allow non-Malaysians to act as witnesses on the postal ballot documents in the country’s election.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Ramkarpal Singh said this is because the Identity Declaration Form (Form 2) is a legal document under the postal voting regulations that can only be filled out by Malaysian citizens.

"Apart from that, the EC also does not plan to allow voters to download and print postal voting documents such as Form 2 and the ballot paper for any election.

"This is because the process of issuing documents related to postal ballots also involves an administrative process, for the purpose of counting and tallying the postal ballot papers by election workers,” he said at a special chamber session in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He said this in response to Tan Hong Pin’s (PH-Bakri) speech in the special chamber about the number of overseas postal voters, as well as whether the government would consider allowing its embassies abroad to handle the postal voting process.

Based on the EC website, only a Malaysian aged 18 and above can act as a witness on postal ballot documents.

Meanwhile, Ramkarpal said he would look into complaints about the short application period for postal ballots for an election, resulting in traffic congestion on the EC website.

"I understand that traffic flow is a matter that needs to be looked into deeply... this will be examined further in relation to the steps to be taken to improve it,” he said.

Ramkarpal said any announcement about postal voting for an election would be made through the print and electronic media, in addition to the EC's official social media platform.

"The EC is also working with the Foreign Ministry to disseminate the latest information on an election, especially regarding the polling date, as well as the opening and closing dates to apply as category 1B overseas postal voters,” he said.

-- BERNAMA