UNIVERSITY students should be allowed to vote via post while electronic voting should also be implemented nationwide to save costs, said Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
According to the caretaker law minister, postal voting should be allowed for students who are studying in other states as it would be costly for them to fly home just to cast their votes.
“The best thing we can do is to perhaps make use of the universities to implement postal voting,” he said at an event at Universiti Putra Malaysia today (Oct 27).
He noted that the US had implemented electronic voting since 2005 which allowed people to cast their vote “by the side of the road” through a dedicated device.
“If they can do it, why can’t we?” he was quoted by FMT as saying, adding that the Election Commission (EC) should have these technologies in place by now.
“Imagine flying to a rural area with just one device to take the votes. It would be simple and cheaper since we are spending over RM1 bil for the elections.”
Wan Junaidi pointed out that these were suggestions that he had given to then EC chairman Tan Sri Azhar Harun after Pakatan Harapan (PH) had taken over Putrajaya following their 14th general election (GE14) victory in May 2018.
He said he had been invited by Azhar to give suggestions on what could be implemented by the EC for elections.
Meanwhile, when questioned on whether he was defending his Santubong parliamentary seat in the upcoming GE15, Wan Junaidi noted that he would leave it to Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) to make the final decision.
“I will not comment on the Santubong matter. I will allow GPS to make a decision. If the party is quiet, then I will remain quiet,” he reportedly said. – Oct 27, 2022
Main photo credit: Sarawak Voice
