Why thousands of eligible voters in Malaysia can’t cast their ballots

The Federal Constitution guarantees the basic right of every Malaysian 18 years and above the right to vote in state and federal elections.

The law explicitly denies this right only to those with a mental disability and convicted criminals serving a prison sentence.

Article 119, clause 3 of the Malaysian Federal Constitution states:

A person is disqualified for being an elector in any election to the House of Representatives or the Legislative Assembly if—

(a) on the qualifying date he is detained as a person of unsound mind or is serving a sentence of imprisonment; or

(b) having before the qualifying date been convicted in any part of the Commonwealth of an offence and sentenced to death or imprisonment for a term exceeding twelve months, he remains liable on the qualifying date to suffer any punishment for that offence.

Thus, it is clear, that suspects in remand detention by police and other law enforcement agencies, and remand prisoners in Malaysian prisons have the right to vote in state and federal elections.

Remand prisoners are those yet to be tried, convicted and sentenced, and they are in detention because either they could not afford bail because of poverty, or they have been denied bail by the law or the courts. There are presumed innocent until tried and convicted by a court of law.

27,877 remand prisoners and maybe over 10,000 remanded suspects

Currently, there are about 27,877 remand prisoners in Malaysian prisons (The Star, 7 October 2025). The number of suspects in remand for the purpose of investigation in police and other law enforcement detention facilities fluctuates, but it could be as high as 5,000–10,000 or even more.

Then, we have those held under detention-without-trial laws who are being detained or restricted from moving out from a particular area, and those in other kinds of detention facilities.

If those in state detention were given the ability to exercise the right to vote, it may have the effect of changing the outcome of elections, be it at the constituency level. It may also affect who ultimately will become prime minister or chief minister or even the state or federal government.

Note that these are not electors who choose not to vote but electors whose ability to vote is denied by the state and state agencies.

If they vote, election outcomes can change.

For example, in the last Sabah state election, the Karambunai state seat was won by a majority of just 16, the Petagas seat by a majority of 261, and the Gum Gum seat by a majority of 269.

In the Sabah parliamentary seats, Putatan was won by a majority of 124 while Tuaran had a majority of just 233.

Thus, it is very possible that if these electors, now denied the ability to vote, did vote, they may have affected the final outcome of elections.

The Electoral Commission must ensure that every Malaysian with a right to vote has the ability to exercise that right in every election. Considering that places of detention are known state facilities, one option is early voting. This will also give time for the Electoral Commission to send the marked ballots back, to reach the relevant constituencies in time to be counted.

Early voting for remand prisoners

At present, early voting is already used for armed forces and police personnel, public servants and Electoral Commission officers on duty on polling day.

Thus, it is no big problem to also have early voting in places of detention.

The Electoral Commission can also use other methods to ensure that all qualified electors in state detention have the ability to exercise their right to vote in Malaysia’s elections, which usually happens once every four or five years.

Magistrates should facilitate

Magistrates could also consider the electors’ right to vote, and thus should try not to grant remand orders during an election period so as not to prevent a suspect’s ability to vote on polling day. People like Najib Razak, Zahid Hamidi, certain politicians and others were never remanded for the purpose of investigations.

Alternatively, magistrates can order the detaining authority to ensure that suspects are able to exercise their right to vote if remand orders are made – a most fundamental right of all Malaysians, 18 years and above.

No postal votes for out-of-state voters?

It was shocking that the Electoral Commission has ruled out allowing Sabahans living in the peninsula the chance to cast their votes through postal ballots in the upcoming state election, according to the commission’s chairman, Ramlan Harun (Malay Mail, 16 October 2025).

This is shocking if voters have to travel far or even fly back to Sabah or the peninsula just to be able to vote. This affects many voters – even those who have to travel 100–300km just to vote.

It is also a serious failure, considering the current financial reality of many voters, making it very difficult for them to spend money, effort and time just to return to their relevant constituencies to vote on polling day. This includes students, workers and business people. For some, this means also having to drag their children out of school for the parents to have to travel to their relevant constituencies just to vote.

All eligible voters living, working or studying away from their constituency should be accorded the right to postal voting, or even early voting in whichever state they are in, so that Malaysia and the Electoral Commission will not be seen as guilty of denying Malaysians the right to vote.

If Malaysians overseas have the right to vote by postal votes, there is no justification not to accord Malaysians working and living in other states or far from their constituencies the right to vote by postal ballots.

Paid leave for voters

In Malaysia, there is still no paid leave for Malaysians to travel back to their constituencies to cast their votes. For some, they may have to take at least three days to be able to go back to vote and come back.

It is still not a crime if employers deny their employees the ability to return to their respective constituencies in time to vote.

As such, we, the 12 undersigned groups, organisations and trade unions call on the Malaysian government, including the Electoral Commission, to take all needed steps needed to ensure that all qualified Malaysian voters, including those in detention in state facilities, are able to exercise their individual right to vote in all Malaysian state and federal elections.

Malaysia must not just simply recognise the right to vote but, more importantly, ensure that every qualified elector has the ability to exercise that most important, fundamental and democratic right to vote both in state and federal elections.

Charles Hector issued this statement, on behalf of the 12 listed groups below:

1. Aliran
2. Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (Madpet)
3. Center for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC)
4. National Union of Bank Employees (Nube)
5. National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam)
6. North South Initiative (NSI)
7. Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM)
8. Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM)
9. Social Protection Contributors Advisory Association Malaysia (SPCAAM)
10. Workers Hub for Change (WH4C)
11. Haiti Action Committee (HAC)
12. PacificwinPacific, Australia

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