PUTRAJAYA, Sept 27 — The Election Commission (EC) expressed concern today over young Malaysians who still refuse to register as voters.
EC chairman Tan Sri Mohd Hashim Abdullah said that from the roadshows at local universities and colleges, only 2,700 students registered from around 30,000 people met.
“They (youths) say they don’t know (about voter registration), don’t know where to vote and they don’t want to be involved in politics.
“They relate voting to only politics. They also think their vote has no weightage,” Mohd Hashim said during a press conference at the EC headquarters today.
He added that the commission will “aggressively” pursue more registrations ahead of the 14th general election by explaining the importance of voting and dispelling negative rumours against the EC.
The EC will also continue to engage youths where they congregate, he said when adding that youths were the group with the least registered voters in all states.
He also stressed that voters need not worry about reprisals for their votes, explaining that their ballots were confidential by law.
“We don’t know how you vote. Even my own wife’s vote. I wouldn’t know,” Mohd Hashim said.
