Election Travel Subsidies Should Be For Everyone Says Bersih

---

 
The Sarawak government is mulling giving subsidies to Sarawakians to return and vote in the coming general election.PETALING JAYA: Any offer to subsidise fares to help those from Sarawak to return home to cast their ballots must be made available to all voters regardless of their political leanings, Bersih said.
Such initiatives should not display any party emblem or image of the candidate that could influence the way a person votes, the electoral reform group said.
Bersih also said it was illegal under the Election Offences Act to attach conditions to vote for certain candidates or parties when offering such subsidies.
It added that whenever a state or federal government offered subsidised fares, there was the issue of possible abuse of state resources during elections to gain an advantage.
-ADVERTISEMENT-Ads by 
This is especially so when the initiative is directly or indirectly linked to supporting candidates linked to the government.
“It gives the incumbent government an unfair advantage and it is unethical but unfortunately, current laws do not criminalise such acts,” it said in a statement.
On Saturday, the Sarawak government said it was mulling giving subsidies to Sarawakians to return and vote in the coming general election.
Former Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii said the state government should instead push for the Election Commission (EC) to introduce a postal voting option for out-of-state East Malaysians.
Bersih said the Sabah and Sarawak state governments should urge the EC to allow out-of-region voters, including West Malaysians living in the Borneo states, to be given the absentee voting option. - FMT

---