PETALING JAYA: As the 15th General Election fervour hots up, rakyat-led groups are reigniting movements to help postal voters get their ballots home in time for the national polls on Nov 19.
The Global Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) is calling on Malaysians, both locally and abroad, to unite in ensuring the ballots reach home in time for what it dubbed “the amazing race”, a reference to the popular US reality TV adventure game show.
The overseas chapter of the electoral watchdog said volunteers were needed for an array of tasks in the lead-up to GE15.
Among the volunteers required are those flying back to Malaysia between Nov 10 and 18 to help transport postal ballots back home, as well as volunteers to coordinate ballots in areas locally and act as runners in Malaysia, among others.
This is because the Election Commission (EC) will only be issuing postal ballots after nomination day on Nov 5.
Contributing to the initiative is the Global Malaysian Network, which has prepared an online registration form to ease the volunteer registration process to help postal voters overseas.
Its co-administrator Joshua Ng said Malaysians were once again thrown into a race against time to get ballots home by Nov 19.
“During GE14, many of us stepped up, banded together and collectively sent our ballots home.
“We had our ups and downs but it is time to put aside our differences and work together again. The call for volunteers has been sounded,” Ng said in the form.
The network is a Facebook group that aims to “connect global Malaysians and advance our camaraderie and goodwill”.
Ng said volunteers were also needed to help coordinate yet another “amazing race” to get ballots to their final destinations.
“The Global Malaysian Network is also working with organisations and individuals overseas who did a similar exercise during GE14.
“If you are a Malaysian living overseas and willing to help, please leave your name and a minimum of one method that people can use to contact you,” he said.
For more information, visit the Global Malaysian Network and the Malaysia GE15 Overseas Postal Voting FAQ Facebook groups at https://www.facebook.com/groups/globalmalaysian/ and www.facebook.com/groups/ge15postvoting.
Another rakyat-led movement previously known as UndiRabu is back with its initiative, currently dubbed UndiBanjir, which is also focused on assisting global voters.
The movement’s co-founder Andrew Loh noted that there was a strong overseas component of UndiBanjir.
“Mobilising voters is a huge task and we are collaborating with other organisations like Global Bersih, Undi18 and independent youth-led movement YPolitics.
“Our objective is the same – Malaysians helping Malaysians to vote. We’re working on rolling out a peer-to-peer crowdfunding platform so that ordinary Malaysians can donate to voters who may need financial assistance to travel home to vote,” he said in an interview.
The San Francisco-based Loh said a significant number of Malaysians residing overseas were also working hard to educate their fellow citizens on postal voting.
“We hope that the postal voting process will be smooth this year.
“Most important is a long enough time frame for the EC to print and sort out the ballots and mail them overseas, and for overseas voters to mail the ballots back,” he said.
UndiBanjir initiative came about amid worries of possible flooding during GE15. Loh said UndiBanjir’s updated website includes a feature where the public can seek help in case of floods.
“While we hope we won’t need this (feature), we will have an existing platform for flood victims to contact emergency services and/or request help.
“It also serves as a platform for the rakyat to donate to non-governmental organisations involved in flood relief efforts,” he added.
Similar to its original effort in 2018, the UndiBanjir website helps to crowdfund, provide carpool services to outstation voters and educate the public on the electoral process.
The public can visit undibanjir.com to get more information on the initiatives provided.