KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 19): Fifteen civil society groups (CSOs) have come together to ask all parties and candidates in the 2025 Sabah state election to commit to securing postal or absentee voting rights for some 200,000 out-of-state Sabahans in the 16th General Election (GE16).

They warned that the bulk of the 200,000 out-of-state Sabahans are unlikely to return to vote in this state election due to cost barriers. Hence, they urged leaders of eight major political coalitions and their 348 candidates to state their positions on postal voting access.

Against this backdrop, they also urged political parties to include postal voting reforms in their manifestos for GE17.

The groups, which include Bersih and Prokej SAMA, also called on Sarawak groups and leaders to demand similar reforms ahead of the upcoming Sarawak polls, which must be held no later than April 2027.

The groups also said the lack of absentee voting options has effectively forced out-of-state Sabahans to abstain for 56 years.

“We call upon the presidents/state chair of the eight major coalitions/parties and their 348 candidates to make their stand clear on whether some 200,000 out-of-state Sabahans (about 12.7% of Sabah’s electorate) would have to spend money to return home to vote in GE16, or to give up their right in determining Sabah’s future,” they said in a joint  statement.

They criticised the Election Commission (EC) and successive federal administrations for refusing to expand postal voting despite repeated appeals.

“On Oct 24, 2025, 10 CSOs had specifically called, as a start, for postal voting to be introduced to 40,000-50,000 Sabah students in public higher education institutions outside Sabah. This was echoed by demonstrating UMS [Universiti Malaysia Sabah] students two days later. Unfortunately, all of these fall on the EC’s deaf ears,” they noted.

The CSOs stressed Sabah's historically lower voter turnout, about 5-7% percentage points lower than the national turnout between 2008-2018. For the 15th general election nationwide voter turnout was 74.7%, while Sabah only saw 64.4% voter turnout.

The statement is endorsed by Bersih, Engage, Persatuan Pemangkin Daya Masyarakat (ROSE), Projek SAMA, Sabah Youth Movement, Serata, PACOS Trust, Suara Mahasiswa UMS, Borneo Komrad, Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia), Pemangkin Research,  Society for Rights of Indigenous People of Sarawak (SCRIPS), Jaringan Tanah Hak Adat Bangsa Asal Sarawak (Tahabas), Terabai Kenyalang Heritage Association of Sarawak (TKHAS) and The Sarawak Initiatives (TSI).