The Election Commission (EC) is a conducting study on allowing Sabahan and Sarawakian voters, who are residing in Peninsula Malaysia, to cast their ballots without the need to fly back to their voting constitutions, said Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
“I had raised this matter with Dewan Rakyat Speaker when he was the EC chairman on methods which could be taken such as electronic voting.”
“This covers voters from Sarawak and Sabah who are here and those from the peninsula who are residing in the two states.”
“The matter is still being studied by the EC,” the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said in response to a supplementary question raised by Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen (PH-Bandar Kuching) in Dewan Rakyat on Monday (18 July).
Earlier, Dr Yii pointed out that there are many young Sarawakians and Sabahans who were studying in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Penang but the current law discouraged them from casting their voting.
“Are there any proposals to amend the law to allow these young voters who are studying here in the peninsula to cast their ballots?” he asked.
On a separate matter, Wan Junaidi said the proposal to make politics part of the school syllables was also discussed by the EC.
Speaking in the Dewan Rakyat, Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim (BN-Baling) suggested that politics be made into a subject in school to ensure political literacy among the young.
Abdul Aziz said that the recent Johor state election was the first time young voters cast their ballots following the implementation of Undi18. However, EC’s statistics showed only a total of 54.92% of eligible voters came out to vote, of which only 5% were young first-time voters.
“This is a small number compared to the 173,000 eligible voters who were recorded during the Johor state polls,” he added.
Meanwhile, Wan Junaidi said the government have got no plans to make voting compulsory as suggested by Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (PN-Pasir Mas).
He said that the matter had been raised with the EC on numerous occasions but he is wary of the challenges for those in the rural areas.
“The intention may be good but the concern is the negative impact it would have on society if implemented,” he added.
Nonetheless, Wan Junaidi said that the matter was still under consideration by the EC.
 is a conducting study on allowing Sabahan and Sarawakian voters, who are residing in Peninsula Malaysia, to cast their ballots without the need to fly back to their voting constitutions, said Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.){kind=link}