Malaysian nationals who are registered as voters and eligible to vote in the upcoming 14th general election (GE14) but currently residing abroad, can apply for postal voting facility from tomorrow.

However, Election Commission (EC) chief Mohd Hashim Abdullah said they must first fulfill several conditions, including having registered as a voter (under the regular or absent voter category), having been in Malaysia or returning to Malaysia not less than 30 days within five years before the dissolution of Parliament or State Assembly, and having been residing abroad.

“Those who are eligible and meet the conditions may apply for postal voting facility using Form 1B,” he said in a statement today.

He said those who were residing in southern Thailand (Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, Songkhla and Satun), Singapore, Brunei and Kalimantan province, Indonesia, however, cannot apply for the facility and must return to Malaysia to cast their votes on polling day.

Hashim said the EC had uploaded Form 1B onto its website.

The guidelines to fill in the form could also be downloaded from the website, he said.

He said the completed form must be sent to EC headquarters in Putrajaya, either by email to [email protected]; or fax to 03-8881 0424/0399/0394/0386/0369; or mail to Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya Malaysia, Menara SPR, No 2 Jalan P2T, Presint 2, Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan, 62100 Putrajaya (Attn: Unit Pengurusan Undi Pos Luar Negara).

“The application for postal voting facility will be closed on the day the Parliament is dissolved and any application form received after midnight on that day would not be processed,” he said.

Hashim said each application received before the dissolution of Parliament would be processed and the applicants would be notified of the status of their applications.

“However, Malaysian nationals who have registered as absent voters abroad need not apply for the postal voting facility as they are already entitled to vote by post,” he said.

Hashim also advised all absent voters abroad to update their address in the country of residence through the EC Complaint and Inquiry System on its official website, by attaching a copy of their passport for verification.

“This is to ensure the postal ballot papers for the GE14 will be sent to them at the correct address,” he said.

He said for the GE14, the sending of the postal ballot papers would be fully managed by Pos Malaysia Bhd and no longer by the Foreign Ministry (Wisma Putra).

For enquiries, please contact the EC at 03-8881 0081 or email to [email protected].

- Bernama