Vote Malaysia collects 3,495 postal ballots from overseas

KUALA LUMPUR - A total of 3,495 postal ballots from overseas were collected by volunteers under the Vote Malaysia initiative for the six state elections and one by-election that will take place tomorrow.

The effort was initiated by several volunteer organisations, including Persatuan Pengundi Muda (UNDI18) and Gerakan 1thirdMedia, to facilitate the voting process for Malaysians abroad.

UNDI18 programme coordinator Diffan Sina Jasmi said his party helped to collect, separate and deliver overseas postal ballot papers to returning officers for each state involved in the election.

"This effort started on Aug 1 when we received postal ballots from Malaysians in Southeast Asia, and on Aug 2, we began receiving envelopes from other countries.

"So far, the highest number of ballot papers successfully collected is for Selangor, which is 1,887, followed by Penang (1,009), Kedah (281), Negeri Sembilan (195), Kelantan (63) and Terengganu (60),” he told a press conference here today.

Diffan said the initiative began during the Johor State Election, and the most significant success was in the last 15th General Election when they brought home 35,092 overseas postal ballot papers.

"This time, we managed to collect 43.8 per cent or 3,495 out of 7,972 overseas postal ballot papers announced by the Election Commission (EC),” he said.

The EC has set Aug 12 as the polling date for the state elections in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu and the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election. - BERNAMA