PM's Dept: Over 4 Million Eligible Malaysians Have Yet To Register As Voters
That's 22% of the total number of Malaysians who are currently eligible to vote.
By May Vin Ang — 10 Sep 2020, 04:16 PM
A total of 4.2 million people in the country aged 21 and above who are eligible to vote have yet to register as voters, the Dewan Negara was told yesterday, 9 September
According to Bernama, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Shabudin Yahaya said that the figure represents 22% of the total number of Malaysians who are currently eligible to vote.
Shabudin said this in response to Senator Ismail Yusop who asked about government measures being taken to empower new voters in preparation for the voting age to be lowered to 18
"We are facing a problem that requires all parties to play a common role because the indications show that there are still 4.2 million people in the country aged 21 and above who have not yet registered as voters," he said during question time.
"This figure does not bode well for the development of the electoral roll. Currently, the number of voters who are 21 years old and above is about 15 million and when we implement the voting at 18 system, we will add another six to seven million voters."
The Deputy Minister said the responsibility to raise awareness should not be borne by the Election Commission (EC) alone, but also be shared by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as well as political parties
He said the EC has already implemented various campaigns and programmes which received good response from young voters, especially the online voter registration programme launched last year.
He added that the EC is also in the midst of preparing to implement the voting age at 18 system as well as automatic voter registration in accordance with the amendments to Article 119(4) of the Federal Constitution which was passed by the Parliament last year.
