PUTRAJAYA: Only less than 10 per cent of undergraduates registered to be voters out of the 30,000 students approached by the Election Commission (EC) as of yesterday.
EC chairman Tan Sri Mohd Hashim Abdullah said this was worrying as the number of potential voters between the ages of 18 and 39 were among the lowest to register.
He said based on their findings, among the reasons for their refusal to register with the EC were that they don’t know how to vote, don’t where to register and don’t want to get involved in politics.
“As the Election Commission, we have a great responsibility in making ensuring all youth, including the 2,700 that we managed to register, to come out and vote during Election Day.
“EC is faced with many challenges to address the issue. We are trying our best to come out with ways to get youth to be involved in the election process,” he said today.
Hashim said this during the launching of the MYSPR SEMAK application, which is a mobile application for voters to check their registration status.
It will also include information, such as voters’ ballot centres and live updates on the election results.
“The application was introduced to curb the spread of false information on poll results by unofficial sources.
“False information would only create confusion among the public. With MYSPR SEMAK, voters can check via their mobile phones for fast and accurate information (on the upcoming polls),” he added.
He said this would improve public perception on the commission.
Hashim said the application would be available on Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store.
To a question on whether Sarawak Bersih committee to request to allow East Malaysians in Peninsular Malaysia to cast ballots as absentee voters, Hashim said the implementation would be impossible.
“If we do it for East Malaysia, we must do for all states. It wouldn’t be fair for voters in the rest of the country if East Malaysians were allowed to cast their votes as absentees,” he added.
He said EC would decide soon on whether to allow officers on duty from health and security bodies on Election Day, to cast their votes via post or early voting.
“EC will be meeting stakeholders from the respective bodies next week to discuss and get their feedbacks on the matter.”