PETALING JAYA: An ongoing pandemic and individual financial constraints may very well decide the outcome of some seats in the Sabah election this Saturday.
At least 250,000 Sabahans live and work in Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia. Many of them are eligible to vote, but current circumstances may deny them the opportunity to exercise their right to do so.
Any hope that they might be able to make their choices through other means have also been lost. The Election Commission (EC) announced last month that postal voting will not be allowed in the election this time, and Malaysia has yet to attempt online voting.
A significant number of Sabahans have decided not to take the risk of returning home because of the Covid-19 pandemic that has flared up again in several areas in the state.
Many others are also not taking the flight home because of the cost involved.
Political analyst Dr Kamarul Zaman Yusoff expressed concern that with so many seats seeing multiple corner fights, “even a small number of voters can affect the outcome”.
Many seats are seeing six, seven or eight-way fights and there is one with 11 contenders vying for the honour to represent its constituents.
Adam Iskandar Eakin, a sales manager who works in Kuala Lumpur, expressed disappointment that he will not be able to cast his vote.
“I am upset that I can’t add value to my state just because I can’t go home,” he told theSun yesterday.
“It’s not worth the cost of making the trip home, and with Covid-19 still an ongoing health threat, it would be too risky to be caught in a crowd at the polling centre.”
He criticised the EC for failing to come up with other ways so that those who live outside Sabah can also cast their votes.
“Such strategies are especially more urgent now given the Covid-19 pandemic,” he added.
Another Sabahan, Jude Mari Kassim, wondered why other initiatives such as online voting have not been considered.
“With today’s technology, online voting should be made available, not only for Sabahans but for all Malaysians.”
Jude said it would cost him RM500 to RM600 just to go home to cast his vote.
“That’s a lot of money for some of us. The EC should have done more for the people who can’t travel home but still want to vote.”
Kamarul said there was no substantive reason for not implementing online or postal voting.
“For those who want to vote, there is no option but to return home,” the Universiti Utara Malaysia lecturer said.
Postal voting was first introduced by the EC in 2013 to enable Malaysians residing abroad to exercise their right to vote.
However, it has yet to be made available to Malaysians who live and work in Singapore, southern Thailand, Brunei and Kalimantan.
Sabahans are going to the polls again after only 26 months since the last general election that saw the defeat of Barisan Nasional at the federal level as well as in several states.
A total of 447 candidates from various parties, as well as independents, are vying for the 73 seats up for grabs. But essentially, the election is a contest between two coalitions – Perikatan Nasional and Warisan Plus.
A total of 1.12 million Sabahans are eligible to vote in the polls.
