No plans to make voter registration compulsory
Bernama (25/6/08): The government has no plans to make voter registration compulsory as the system in practice is conducive and not burdensome to the people.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said if voter registration was made mandatory, it would involve enforcement of the law and could cause problems for the people.
"Compulsory voter registration will be in violation of Article 5 of the Federal Constitution with regards to personal liberty and is against democracy as practised in this country," he said in reply to Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Rahman (PAS-Pengkalan Chepa) in the Dewan Rakyat here today.
Mohamed Nazri said the government also believed that the high number of registered voters, comprising 73 percent of citizens who were eligible to vote, indicated the people's awareness on their right to vote as provided for in the Federal Constitution.
In addition, he said, the Election Commission (EC) was always holding roadshows and setting up tables for voter registration at shopping complexes to encourage people to register as voters if they had not done so.
"So, I would like to stress here again that we do not want to force people (to register as voters) as the decision is theirs, whether to be a voter or not. We gave the people that choice."
On voters who had died, Mohamed Nazri said the EC carried out a review regularly to remove their names from the voter list for updating purpose.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said if voter registration was made mandatory, it would involve enforcement of the law and could cause problems for the people.
"Compulsory voter registration will be in violation of Article 5 of the Federal Constitution with regards to personal liberty and is against democracy as practised in this country," he said in reply to Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Rahman (PAS-Pengkalan Chepa) in the Dewan Rakyat here today.
Mohamed Nazri said the government also believed that the high number of registered voters, comprising 73 percent of citizens who were eligible to vote, indicated the people's awareness on their right to vote as provided for in the Federal Constitution.
In addition, he said, the Election Commission (EC) was always holding roadshows and setting up tables for voter registration at shopping complexes to encourage people to register as voters if they had not done so.
"So, I would like to stress here again that we do not want to force people (to register as voters) as the decision is theirs, whether to be a voter or not. We gave the people that choice."
On voters who had died, Mohamed Nazri said the EC carried out a review regularly to remove their names from the voter list for updating purpose.
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