THE CICAK.com

Register to vote now!

By YOHENDRA NADARAJAN

There are 3.43 million young Malaysians who are denying themselves the right vote in the next general election.

That’s 70 percent out of 4.9 million Malaysians who have not registered to vote, according to Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, the elections commission deputy chairman in The Star.

There is wide speculation that the government might call for an early election, possibly at the end of the year or early 2008, even though we do not have to hold one until 17 May 2009. Our last election was in 2004 and the constitution requires us to hold an election once every five years.

Deadline to register

The electoral roll is closed and updated several times a year. And so those who just missed the first quarter registration deadline, 31 March, will not be able to vote if an election is called in June. But this is very unlikely.

And if the election is held in October, you will need to register to vote by the end of June.

If the election is held in December, you will need to register by the end of September.

Registration closes every quarter of the year and it takes up to three months for the election commission system to verify your information.

You qualify to vote if you’re Malaysian and are at least 21 years old.

How to register

You can easily register to vote by submitting basic identification information at any post office. The process can be completed in a matter of minutes. It’s that simple!

All you need is your Identity Card (IC).

I registered at a mobile registration booth at a shopping complex in Kelana Jaya last year. The whole process took 10 minutes. To learn why it’s important to vote, read Keith Leong’s article, “Vote, damn it.”

You can verify your registration by visiting the Election Commission of Malaysia’s official website.

Note that it might take a while for your voter registration information to be logged in their database. The electoral roll is not updated immediately.

You can also check your voting constituency on the site.

Visit the Election Commission’s official website for more information on voting.

It is important to vote and ensure that your voice is heard. You need to take part in the civic process if you want a better Malaysia. You might think, “Hey, I’m only one person. What difference can I make? I’m only entitled to vote once.”

That’s true. We are each “one person,” “one vote.” But together we can make a difference by electing who we want to represent us.

So what are you waiting for?

–
YOHENDRA NADARAJAN is a contributing writer for theCICAK.

Yohen received a law degree from Northumbria University, Newcastle. He is currently a coordinator for Amnesty International in Kuala Lumpur. Yohen is a newbie in the local NGO scene. He is an ardent Newcastle United supporter who always gets the stick from his Arsenal housemates.