Voting rights for overseas Malaysians By Farah Fahmy

NOV 20 — I shouldn’t be amazed, but I am.

Here we are in the year 2011, and astonishingly, there are still people out there who hold antiquated views about who should be able to vote.

Datuk Ei Kim Hock has rightly been castigated for suggesting that Malaysians like me who live abroad should not be allowed to vote as we have “lost touch” with our country. I’m not sure which is the more preposterous claim, that someone like me takes no interest in what’s happening in the country, or that someone like me should not be allowed to vote because what I read about Malaysia may be “biased” and “wrong.”

Now, I will grant you that there are Malaysians out there who don’t take an interest in what’s going on in the country, but actually, these people live inside Malaysia as well as outside Malaysia, so should disinterested Malaysians living in the country be barred from voting too?
Until 1918, only men with property could vote in Britain, and it wasn’t until 1928 that women were accorded the same voting rights as men. Do people like Datuk Ei really want us Malaysians to go back to a time when voting rights were accorded to certain people only?

Let me remind such people of one simple fact: voting, unlike many other things, is a right accorded to every adult Malaysian citizen. As long as I am a Malaysian citizen I should be able to vote, and the government and the Election Commission (EC) should be doing their utmost to ensure that all able Malaysians are able to vote, no matter where they live.

I know there are plenty of people out there who will blithely say, “Well come back then, if you care about it so much.” Let me tell you this: whether I come back to Malaysia or not to vote is not the point.

So let me reiterate the point, in case you missed it: as long as I am a Malaysian citizen (and yes, I am a registered voter) I should be able to vote, and the government and the EC should be doing their utmost to ensure that all able Malaysians are able to vote, no matter where they live.
Don’t talk to me about logistics, either. If the government and the EC can cater for students, army personnel and diplomatic staff, then obviously they have found a way to accommodate overseas voting.

Besides, if we can develop the latest technological marvel and include it in our passports and MyKad, then it can’t be beyond someone’s capabilities to overcome these supposed logistical hurdles.

If we can’t work it out ourselves, then why not look at how other countries do it? After all, Britain and the USA - both countries where people vote according to their localities, like ours - allow non-resident citizens to take part in elections. If these two developed countries can do it, then why can’t we, a country aspiring to developed nation status, do it too?

As far as I’m concerned, too many excuses have been given on why overseas Malaysians aren’t allowed to vote. “Logistical nightmare” is merely one excuse. The other one often trotted out is the “difficulty” in locating overseas Malaysians.

Again, let me ask: do the authorities knock on every single door in Malaysia to ask people to register? Of course not. So why should this be an issue when it comes to overseas Malaysians?
As I’ve mentioned in a previous article, it really isn’t difficult to run an information campaign in this day and age. If the EC can’t work out how to do it, I’m sure there are plenty of Malaysians who would gladly set up a Facebook page to do this and publicise any registration exercise!

During the 2008 French presidential elections, an enormous queue wound its way around one of the polling stations in London. I remember looking at that queue in envy. If I’d been born French, there would have been no question whatsoever about me casting my vote in a city outside France. This is quite simply a normal state of affairs.

Of course there are questions about the EC’s ability in ensuring overseas votes are collected properly. This, however, shouldn’t become another reason why overseas citizens are denied their voting rights. Ensuring elections are held in a fair and transparent manner goes hand in hand with ensuring citizens are able to vote.

Currently overseas citizens — apart from a certain few - don’t even have the right to vote. We have been stripped of our rights, disenfranchised, for no reason other than the fact that we live abroad.

Lest they forget, the government and the EC are there to serve the rakyat. The last time I checked, Malaysian citizens have the same rights regardless of where they live (and let’s not confuse rights with privileges; there are plenty of privileges that I have given up due to where I choose to live, and that is to be expected). So when will my voting rights be restored to me?
I would dearly love to be able to queue outside the Malaysian High Commission in London to cast my vote for our next elections, and I’m glad that there are more sensible politicians who are backing the call to enable overseas Malaysians to vote.

So come on, EC, it’s time for Malaysia to join the developed world. Let people like me vote for the leaders of our country without having to plan an impromptu trip back.