Sign up as a voter before Dec 31, Malaysians urged

PETALING JAYA: You only have 19 days left to sign up as a voter if you want to cast your ballot at the 13th general election should polling be held between February and May next year.

The Election Commission (EC) has urged all eligible Malaysians who have yet to sign up as voters to do so before Dec 31, the cut-off point for the 2012 fourth quarter electoral roll that the commission expects to gazette in February.

Commission deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said those who failed to do so would not be able to vote if polls were held before the next update to the voter list is gazetted in May 2013.

“Some are predicting that Parliament will be dissolved in early March while others say it could be at the end of March.

“In any case there are still some days left before Dec 31, so please register now, just in case the predictions do come true and elections are held near that period,” Wan Ahmad told The Star.

As of Sept 30, 20.3% or 3,346,460 out of 16,451,867 Malaysians who are eligible to vote had yet to register with the commission.

The current term of Parliament ends on April 28 and polls must be held within 60 days from that date.

Wan Ahmad said the EC would add new voters to the roll quickly after the end of each quarter but all Malaysians who have not registered should do as time was needed to process their applications.

Information on how to register is available at www.spr.gov.my. - Star