Quick recap:
- 11 April for the issuance of writs
- 28 April for the naming of candidates
- 5 May for early voting
- 9 May for the actual polling day itself
The first indication of anything was happening was a text message from DHL on 3 May 2018 at 6.44pm UTC +1000 (4.44pm MYT):
A quick search of the delivery number showed that it was sent out on 3 May 2018.
And this is where the problem begins: my ballot papers only arrived in Brisbane on 7 May 2018, a Monday. It was also a public holiday, and while I called DHL to see if I could pick it up from their Brisbane sorting facility, no one picked up the phone on that day.
Remember, for my vote to count it needed to arrive back in the counting center of my constituency by 5pm on 9 May 2018, polling day.
It was only at 6.30pm AEST, 4.30pm MYT, on 8 May 2018, that I received my ballot papers.
There was no way I could get it back to my Returning Officer by 5pm on 9 May 2018, short of chartering a flight.
Opening up the DHL packaging, I noticed that the envelope to send the ballot paper had a Pos Daftar (Register Post by Pos Malaysia) tracking number. Could it be............?
As I thought, and as I forcasted, the ballot papers were sent out on 1 May 2018, and it arrived at the National Mail Center on 2 May 2018.
Looking at the DHL consignment label, it was sent out by Pos Besar Shah Alam (The Shah Alam Sorting Office).
So what I think happened was:
- Ballot papers are printed
- Sent out from Kuching to the National Mail Center
- The National Mail Center sends it to DHL
- DHL picks it up from Shah Alam and sends it to Subang airport
- Flies it from Subang airport to Singapore
- Places it on a flight from Singapore to Brisbane
- Eventually reaches to me
As a lot of people anticipated, there was not enough time for the ballot papers to get from Malaysia to their overseas destination, much less get it back to the Returning Officer by 5pm on polling day.
Above is the Sampul B (Envelope B) which is what would have been handed to the Returning Officer at Padawan. (Yes seriously. No not that Padawan)
It was remarkably similar to my experience during the 2016 Sarawak State elections. Except this time the Electoral Commission sent out my ballot papers via DHL instead of TNT.
The same Borang 2 was provided to declare my identity, and it would have gone into Sampul B (Envelope B).
What the rear of Sampul B looked like. Protip: an English version of this can be found in the Schedules section of the Elections (Postal Voting) Regulations 2003.
Voting paper goes into Sampul A (Envelope A). Sampul A is sealed and placed into Sampul B, which is where the declaration of identity also goes into.
A close up of my (disenfranchised) ballot paper suggests that it was printed in Kuching at the Government Printer.
Yes I am aware there were many groups trying to match people going back to Malaysia with voters. No there was no one who was going back to Kuching from Brisbane on the night of 8 May 2018.
But I had a personal friend who received a vote from New Zealand in KLIA, flew to Kuching, and drove to Santubong, just to deliver the vote.
As we all know, 9 May 2018 will go down in history when Malaysia changed, even if it was for a little while.
Will this extend to further reforms to the postal voting system?
