PUTRAJAYA, April 23 – All ballot papers for postal voters overseas and absentee voters will be sent tomorrow. Election Commission (EC) deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said the papers would be sent to the offices of 103 Malaysian missions abroad.
“The EC gives an assurance that the process of sending and receiving the ballot envelopes is safe and overseas voters need not worry,” he told reporters here today.
Polling for overseas voters will be held simultaneously on Sunday from 9am to 8pm in London, United Kingdom, and Melbourne, Australia, and from 9am to 6pm the same day at other Malaysian missions. Wan Ahmad advised the voters to cast their votes at the centres where the ballot envelopes were given out to avoid problems.
“Everything is available, the officer responsible, witness, ballot booth, equipment, and ballot papers which have been marked can immediately be put into the sacks for postal votes,” he said.
He said voters who wanted to take the ballot papers home would have to send the papers themselves and the EC would not be held responsible if the ballots did not arrive at the offices of the respective returning officers (RO) before
5pm on polling day on May 5.
All diplomatic bags containing the ballots were expected to reach Malaysian shores by April 29 at the earliest and would be sent directly to the EC offices nationwide before distribution to the RO offices. A total of 6,360 overseas voters and 2,900 absentee voters are expected to cast their votes in the election.
Meanwhile, in SEREMBAN, EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said the biggest number of postal voters resided in Australia, followed by United Kingdom and China. He said the process of putting the ballots into envelopes to be sent back to Malaysia would be done in a transparent manner under the scrutiny of party agents. He added that early voting by police and armed forces personnel would be held on April 30.
“The ballots for early voting must be opened at 4pm on May 5 in front of party agents. If there are too many we will open early but it must be done before party agents and observers, both domestic and international,” he said.
BERNAMA
