KUCHING: It is said that Sarawak would benefit from automatic voter registration which will be tabled in parliament shortly.
The reason is that the state has one of the highest numbers of unregistered voters in the country.
In Sarawak many people in remote rural areas find logistical difficulties when they want to register as voters. If 18-year-olds are allowed to vote but not registered automatically, the number of unregistered voters in the state would become significantly higher.
Automatic voter registration would see not only some 3.7 million new voters added to the electoral roll if the minimum age limit is lowered from 21 to 18, but also add 3.8 million people who have not registered as voters, said Bandar Kuching Member of Parliament Dr Kelvin Yii.
Currently, there are 14.8 million registered voters in the country.
Dr Yii, in a press statement yesterday, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir and his Cabinet had a meeting with opposition party leaders and came to an agreement on tabling constitutional amendments to lower the voting age to 18 as well as have the political will to introduce automatic voter registration.
He reckoned that automatic voter registration would be a game-changer and a significant point in the country’s history.
It is the most awaited administrative system reforms to not just empower youth but also remove barriers for the people to be involved in the democratic process.
“Through the policy, we will not see the voting rights of young people or the general public being denied just because they did not get to enroll as voters.
“The policy will remove barriers to registration for eligible voters, the first step on the way to increasing voter participation to promote a more vibrant democracy,” he said.
Dr Yii believed that an automatic system makes voter rolls more accurate and current, which makes the system easier to maintain and, critically, helps preserve the integrity of the ballot.
This, he explained, happens for two reasons. First, a paperless system leaves less room for human error caused by bad handwriting, mishandling paper forms, or manual data entry. Second, because voters are sending more real-time information to the registration system through the National Registration Department, outdated or duplicate records can be eliminated.
However, he said, there is much work to be done before the policy could be successfully implemented.
The authorities need to work closely with the National Registration Department to implement the automated voter registration system including cleaning up the current electoral roll of dubious voters, those who have passed away, those in prison, or even “pengundi hantu” (phantom voters).
On top of that, Dr Yii believed that manpower saved through the usage of an automated registration should be shifted to conduct more civic engagements and education not just among the youth but also other members of the public to help them better understand the whole electoral process on top of empowering and encouraging greater democratic participation.
While acknowledging that the process may take time, he expressed his gladness that the government has got the ball rolling.
