What power does Overseas Postal Voting fall under

This post was inspired by a forwarded WhatsApp group message to me:




So what is going on? I decided to have a closer look.

According to the EC, the criteria to be eligible to be a overseas postal voter is:

1. A Malaysian Citizen
2. On the electoral roll
3. Not living in South Thailand, Singapore, Brunei dan Indonesian Kalimantan 
4. To have been in Malaysia for at least 30 days in the preceding 5 years 

The power to exercise the voting rights via postal voting is vested under the Elections (Postal Voting) Regulations 2003. The right to do overseas postal voting was extended via Federal Gazette P.U. (B) 9 (imaginatively called "Notification Under Paragraph 3(1)(e)) on 14 Jan 2013.

It reads:



The key word here is "residing abroad". The voter must be living abroad.

Usually the bit that catches people out is satisfying the 30 day in Malaysia rule, or applying from South Thailand, Singapore, Brunei dan Indonesian Kalimantan.


Of more relevance in terms of electoral variability are the outstation and Singapore workers. At least 2 million voters work away from their registered constituency, and 3 quarter million work in Singapore. If they can't get time/leave to travel (road, rail, bus, fly) to vote, there will be an impact.

BN knows the vast majority of such "migrant" workers support opposition. Hence the mid week polling for 2018.