He said talks would be held with the authorities involved like the Royal Malaysia Police, Prisons Department and the Election Commission to allow prisoners to exercise their democratic right.
Among the aspects that needed to be studied were legal provisions for prisoners to be allowed to vote, he said.
“If the prisoner has been in jail three years or sentenced to more than three years imprisonment, a suitable mechanism might be needed to enable them to vote where they are serving their sentences.
“Alternatively, they can also be early voters where they have registered as voters. Prisoners also have rights to register as first time voters,” he told reporters after attending a function organised by the National Anti-Drugs Agency (AADK) in Kampung Gertak Seratus here Sunday.
According to him, there were now some 35,000 prisoners in the country with 48 per cent of them serving time for drug offences.
He also said 170 prisoners on parole were eligible to vote in the Kuala Besut by-election on July 24.
He drew attention to the fact that this was first time prisoners on parole would be voting and thanked AADK’s Squad 1Malaysia for making it possible.
The Kuala Besut by-election is a straight fight between Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abd Rahman, 37, an engineer, and PAS candidate, Endot@Azlan Yusof, 48, a businessman.
Kuala Besut has 17,683 voters and the seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent Dr A Rahman Mokhtar of the BN on June 26 due to lung cancer.
– BERNAMA
