Get more youths to register as voters, MP tells govt, NGOs

 

Ong Kian Ming says the government should make it mandatory for students in public and private universities to register as voters.

PETALING JAYA: The drop in the number of newly-registered voters is of great concern, a Pakatan Harapan MP said today.

Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming said the low voter registration rate may be a sign that the younger generation of eligible voters feel more disconnected from the political system than before.

“Many of them may also not be aware that they can register as voters online because of insufficient publicity for this registration method.”

To resolve this issue, Ong called for political parties, NGOs and the government to work harder to convince young voters to register before the next general election.

Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming.

He cited the Election Commission’s (EC) quarterly update of the electoral roll, which stated that 85,358 new voter registrations were recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020.

However, this dropped to 52,382 in Q1 2021 and then to 44,321 in Q2 2021, which is the latest quarterly update.

“To compare, an estimated 500,000 citizens turn 21 every year and are eligible to register as voters.

“While the EC should be praised for approving online registration of voters since July 2019 via its MyDaftarSPR website, the reality is that some level of on-the-ground campaigning is needed to register new voters,” he said in a statement.

According to Ong, voters were constantly taken out from the electoral roll because of deaths, loss of citizenship or going to prison. This meant that the net increase to the electoral roll for Q4 2020, Q1 2021 and Q2 2021 was 33,089, 12,083 and 3,453, respectively.

“That comes to a net increase of only 48,625 to the electoral roll between Q4 2020 to Q2 2021,” he said.

To overcome these challenges, Ong suggested that the government play its part by making it mandatory for students in public and private universities to register as voters.

He said NGOs such as Undi18 and Bersih could also mobilise their volunteers to do voter registration and awareness programmes.

“The public should also encourage their friends and relatives who have recently turned 21 to quickly register as voters.

“Only with a more engaged electorate, including those from the younger generation, can the public continue to put pressure on political parties to field responsible and qualified candidates to run for office at the state and federal levels.” - FMT