Dear Editor, IT shocked me to discover that though the 12th general election is on March 8, there are only 10.9 million registered voters against a population of over 26 million.

Assuming four million Malaysians are under 21 years old and two million are living abroad, we should have 10 million or more eligible voters in the country.

Why are so many Malaysians not registered and what is the Election Commission doing about this?

The government and the decision makers in the Election Commission should change the rules by making it easier for people to go to the polls to cast their votes, such as by bringing their identity cards as proof of citizenship.

This should remove suspicions of ‘foul play’ about how parliamentary and State Assembly seats are being worked out for the constituencies.

For more transparency, ac countability and fairness to all races, voting should be made mandatory to all Malaysians above 16 years of age and they should come out to cast their votes at the polling station in their place of residence as shown in the identity card, fail ing which, they should be giv en a reminder that they should exercise their right to vote to demonstrate the qualities of a good and responsible citizen.

Only when it becomes an ob ligation under the law will all citizens come out to vote dur ing a general election or by-election.

To prove their eligibility and identity, voters should bring their MyKad for verification by officers at the polling stations.

This helps to remove the tedious and costly registration of voter exercises and could save millions of ringgit in taxpayers’ money.

If this is put to practice, then we should see more people voting and not only less than half the nation’s population.

To account for the number of voters who turn up at the polling stations to cast their votes and also to prevent fraud and double voting, it is necessary to take the thumbprints of the voters and have them stored in a computer for checking purposes.

Lau Bing
Subang Jaya

Source: Malay Mail – February 27, 2008