Registered Malaysian voters living abroad began casting their ‘overseas’ votes for the 13th general election today.
BERNAMA reported that voting had commenced in Australia, India and China.
In all polling centres, the process went off without a hitch with many voters expressing their pleasure at being able to do so for the first time.
In AUSTRALIA, Malaysians turned up in large numbers to cast their vote at three polling centres across the country.
Officials in Canberra, Melbourne and Perth said the postal voting was smooth and orderly, which they described as a credit to Malaysians.
Malaysian High Commissioner to Australia, Salman Ahmad, said that “everything went smoothly”.
“There was a good atmosphere with Malaysians catching up with friends and relatives.
“We had some food stalls and I think everyone had a good time,” he said.
Considering it was the first time polling was conducted overseas, he said the experience would be helpful in the future.
In Melbourne, where about 1,700 voters had registered, the crowds were overwhelming with two queues stretching more than 70 metres outside the Malaysian consulate in St Kilda Rd, for almost the whole day.
A young Malaysian said she had arrived at the Malaysian consulate at 10am and had completed voting about 2pm.
“It was not a pleasant experience standing for so long but I am very happy I had the opportunity to vote,” she said.
Long distances travelled
Polling in Perth, which had about 350 registered voters, also went without a hitch.
Many Malaysians travelled long distances to vote. Perhaps, the longest distance covered was by a Malaysian in Sydney who found his name in the Perth list.
He flew almost five hours to Perth, which cost him about A$640 (RM1,997) in airfares alone.
A Brisbane doctor flew to Melbourne, incurring costs of about A$350 (RM1,092) in airfares with incidentals amounting to about A$250 (RM780).
“I am lucky I have accommodation at a friend’s apartment in Melbourne,” he said.
Sydney voters mostly went to Canberra while those in Adelaide came here.
Polling could not be held in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide because they do not have Malaysian consulate services.
Meanwhile in INDIA, Malaysians came out to vote in three different locations, namely New Delhi, Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Mumbai (Maharashtra).
In New Delhi, 31 citizens, including 23 Malaysian High Commission staff cast their votes.
The rest are Malaysians residing in various places in North India.
Ghanaseharan Muniandy, who was among the early birds, said the government’s initiative of enabling Malaysians residing overseas to vote was a move in the right direction.
“It enables me and the rest of Malaysians globally to exercise our democratic rights. Otherwise, many of us would have been left out,” he said when met at the Malaysian High Commission here today.
Malaysia’s come a long way
He believed that Malaysia had come a long way, in terms of political maturity.
“The government has opened up and heard the people’s call, which is good,” said Ghanaseharan, who works for a Malaysian company based in Chandigarh, Punjab.
Another voter in New Delhi, Sunita Chima, said: “It is a great deal today to be voting.
“The Malaysian High Commission in New Delhi has been very informative and supportive, considering postal voting has been implemented for the first time for Malaysians living overseas.
“This is the first time for me, taking my vote to the ballot box. Better late than never, they say.”
At the Chennai Consulate-General, a total of 53 Malaysians are expected to vote, including consulate staff, Malaysians working in South India, as well as students.
As for Mumbai, 15 Malaysians are voting at the Consul-General’s office.
Voting in China
IN CHINA, 61 voters who made up about 34% of 177 Malaysians voters residing in Beijing have cast their votes via post at the Malaysian embassy here as of 11am today.
The postal voters comprising 55 absentee voters and 122 Malaysians residing abroad and Election Commission (EC) workers will exercise their right to vote today.
Malaysian ambassador to China Iskandar Sarudin was here at 11am to cast his votes for the Rembau parliamentary and Rantau state constituencies.
He also lauded the EC’s move in setting up a station to facilitate Malaysians to exercise their right as voters with the new postal voting system.
Besides the Malaysian embassy here, Malaysians residing in China can also cast their votes through postal ballots at the Malaysian consulates-general in Shanghai, Kunming, Guangzhou and Hong Kong between 9am and 6pm today.
Those residing in Taiwan can cast their votes at the Malaysian Friendship and Trade Centre, Taipei.
-Bernama
Sunday, April 28, 2013
GE13: Overseas voting begins
About sabahdaily
Malaysians abroad got into an early polling mood, with high turnout in some of the 103 missions worldwide that also provided drinks and snacks for those who waited to cast their votes.
ReplyDeleteElection Commission secretary Kamaruddin Mohamed Baria said about 50 per cent to 60 per cent of registered Malaysian voters had cast their votes in various countries such as Australia, New Zealand, China and Japan by noon yesterday.
ReplyDeleteThere are 6,339 overseas postal voters, marking the first time Malaysian nationals were voting from abroad. Registered voters in Britain, the United States and certain other countries are expected to cast their votes by early today, given the time difference.
ReplyDeleteIn Beijing, 564 Malaysians in China are registered with the EC and an estimated 74.9 per cent turned up to cast their votes at the Malaysian embassy here and consulate offices in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Kunming and Hong Kong.
ReplyDelete"The postal voting process is easy and convenient. I don't think a lot of people would have the time to travel back to Malaysia just for that," said voter Quah Kean Eng, after casting his vote at the Malaysian embassy.
ReplyDeleteMalaysian Ambassador to China Iskandar Sarudin said the number of voters who turned up in Beijing was 121, Hong Kong 220, Shanghai 171, Guangzhou 35, and Kunming 17.
ReplyDeleteIn Singapore, chemical engineering student Song Wai Kit, 22, took a day off from preparing for his examination to cast his ballot.
ReplyDelete"The people were really nice. They gave very clear instructions on how to vote," he said.
ReplyDeleteIn Melbourne, it was a festive atmosphere at the Malaysian consulate in St Kilda Road, with stalls serving Malaysian delicacies like nasi kerabu, ondeh-ondeh and curry puffs to around 1,700 people who waited to cast their ballots.
ReplyDeleteIn Bangkok, Diyana Yahaya was up early to cast her vote at the Malaysian embassy on Sathorn Road.
ReplyDeleteLet the voting begins!
ReplyDeleteMalaysians abroad got into an early polling mood, with high turnout in some of the 103 missions worldwide that also provided drinks and snacks for those who waited to cast their votes.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a good opportunity for them to cast their votes.
ReplyDeleteCan't hardly wait for my first time voting also...
ReplyDeleteSabah Barisan Nasional (BN) has done a lot of improvement in the state and has proven its good track record, said Karambunai candidate Datuk Jainab Ahmad Ayid
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteApril 29, 2013 at 3:14 PM
Can't hardly wait for my first time voting also...
Well this coming Sunday will begin.
she stressed that BN was committed to bring about more infrastructure development throughout the state if it won the May 5 election
ReplyDeleteThe opposition parties will use any issues to fish for sympathy votes, including playing up various problems in the interior.
ReplyDeleteevery project proposed by the government was not meant to be completed within a month or a year, but it needed to be implemented according to budget and priority.
ReplyDeleteShe said the people must look at all development by BN, compared to many false promises by opposition in the states they won in 2008 election.
ReplyDeleteMuhyiddin said a responsible government leader would only offer what the government was capable of giving and would not destroy the country just to win votes to become prime minister
ReplyDeleteThe opposition manifesto of wanting to abolish toll and to reduce oil price without thinking of the government’s capacity to do so, will only increase the national debt and make the country bankrupt
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteApril 28, 2013 marked a historic day for Malaysians living overseas as they voted in the country's general elections for the very first time. More than 70,000 Malaysians are now residing in United Kingdom (UK). Some are studying in colleges or universities and mostly working. Many have brought along families and have been staying in UK for more than a decade.
With the polling date for the 13th general election (GE13) set on May 5, and Malaysians overseas for the first time allowed to vote as postal voters, Malaysians in Britain are eager to exercise their rights as voters.
ReplyDeleteThose who have registered as postal voters should take advantage of this opportunity introduced recently by the Malaysian government.
ReplyDeleteMalaysia is among a handful of countries that now allows its citizens to vote from outside.
Apart from that, many of the outstanding contentions that haunted the voters hitherto will be over once they mark the ballot papers.
ReplyDeletePrime Minister Najib Tun Razak had signed a MoU with Transparency International to monitor and ensure GE13 freely and fairly to fulfill the Malaysians’ aspirations.
ReplyDeletebagi rakyat Malaysia yang berada di luar negara. tanggungjawab sebagai pengundi dalam Pilihanraya Umum ke-13(PRU13) tetap boleh dijalankan walaupun sedang berada diluar negara.
ReplyDeleteRakyat Malaysia yang berada di luar negaraakan mengundi melalui pengundian awal yang dinamakan Pengundi Tidak Hadir(PTH) secara serentak di seluruh dunia
ReplyDeletePilihanraya Umum yang hanya datang lima tahun sekali perlu dimanfaatkan sepenuhnya oleh seluruh rakyat Malaysia. Ini adalah amanah yang besar kepada negara kita tercinta.
ReplyDeletePolice and navy personnel nationwide became the inaugural batch of advance voters who used indelible ink for the first time.
ReplyDeleteInspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar led the way by being among the first to cast his vote, as policemen all over the country cast their votes at police contingents nationwide.
ReplyDeleteThe Election Commission (EC) assured some overseas voters who had complained that they found dots on their ballot slips that their votes are valid.
ReplyDeleteThis comes in the wake of postal voters who complained online about black dots on their ballots and feared it would be treated as spoilt ballots.
ReplyDeleteSome said they were dismissed by “unhelpful” officers who did not provide fresh ballots.
ReplyDelete“They failed to assure me that my state voting slip was not defective. The officer said I either had to vote or leave the premises!” said one Netizen on Facebook.
EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar told voters that what really counted was where they marked X on their ballots.
ReplyDelete“The dots are most probably due to the printing machines as some of them are old,” Wan Ahmad said.
He also defended the decision of the election officers, who he said were trained on how to deal with the matter.
ReplyDelete“Their decision should be respected. But I don't blame the voters. I know there are some perceptions and they are worried,” he said.
On ballots, Wan Ahmad said the EC provided “just enough” to each mission.
ReplyDelete“Let's say if there are 70 voters in one mission, we will send two ballot books. One contains 50 ballot papers. We send just enough,” he said.
Bersih steering committee member Maria Chin Abdullah appealed to the EC to sort out its printer problems as to avoid mass confusion on polling day.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the EC warned that those trying to sell or buy ballot papers or are discovered to have a ballot paper outside of a polling centre for whatever reason can be jailed for up to two years or fined a maximum of RM5,000, or both.
ReplyDeleteThe EC was responding to reports by several news organisations that there were syndicates buying voter slips with a price tag of RM500 to RM1,000 per ballot.
ReplyDelete“On polling day, there will be an EC clerk assigned to ensure that voters place their ballot papers into the Parliamentary and State Assembly ballot boxes,” he said in a statement.
ReplyDeleteSPR harus memastikan setiap undian adalah benar dan jitu.
ReplyDeleteKami mengharapkan PRU yang benar bersih dan transparent.
ReplyDeleteSemoga belia melaksanakan tanggung jawab sebagai warganegara.
ReplyDeleteSetipa undian cukup membawa perubahan yang ketara.
ReplyDeleteManifesto PR juga menarik perhatian orang awam juga.
ReplyDeleteLets hope the PRU13 clean and transparent till the end.
ReplyDeleteTanggung jawab masing-masing harus dilaksanakan.
ReplyDeleteYang penting, tiada pihak membuat tiruan atau aktiviti yang tidak baik atas kertas undiannya.
ReplyDeleteMereka yang mengundi buat kali pertama harus bijak menilai dan membuat undian yang baik untuk dirinya dan masa depan akan datang.
ReplyDeleteOur youth spreading around the world, and be glad that they are playing their role as an Malaysian.
ReplyDeleteKUALA LUMPUR: Registered Malaysian voters living abroad have until the dissolution of Parliament to apply for postal voting for the 13th general election.
ReplyDeleteElection Commission (EC) deputy chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said applications through the 1B Form received after midnight on the day of dissolution would not be processed.
ReplyDeleteSince Jan 21, the EC had received 2,485 applications from Malaysians living overseas of which the highest were from Australia with 574 applications, United Kingdom (449), United States (195), China (132), Qatar (116) and United Arab Emirates (97),
ReplyDeleteBesides them, 2,651 Malaysian students and civils servants and their spouseshave also registered for postal voting for the coming elections.
ReplyDeleteHe said Malaysian citizens could refer to the guideline for filling in the 1B Form on the EC website for any question they might have regarding form completion to ensure it was done properly.
Completed forms need to be sent to the EC headquarters in Putrajaya by e-mail (upup@spr.gov.my), fax (+603-8881 1201/ 1202/ 1187/ 1192) or by post.
ReplyDeleteWan Ahmad said each application would be immediately processed and the applicants would be informed of their application status
“Malaysians abroad should keep themselves updated on EC’s announcements by visiting www.spr.gov.my from time to time,” he said.
ReplyDeleteFor the first time in the country’s election history, Malaysians living abroad who are registered voters can vote and be involved in determining the future of the country
ReplyDeletePreviously, only full-time students and civil servants and their spouses were eligible to use the postal voting facility.
ReplyDeleteBesides being a registered voter, they must also have been in Malaysia for not less than 30 days within five years before Parliament and state assembly are dissolved.
ReplyDeleteMalaysians living in Southern Thailand, Singapore, Brunei and Kalimantan are not eligible for postal voting and are required to return to cast their votes on polling day.
Applications through the 1B Form received after midnight on the day of dissolution will not be processed, says the EC.
ReplyDelete