Year-round voter registration at post offices from July: EC
Eligible voters would be able to register at any post office in the country beginning this July, said Elections Commission secretary Wan Ahmad Wan Omar today.
The secretary explained that unlike the current one, the new system does not require eligible voters to register during a stipulated period.
Starting this year, we will do it (registration) everyday. We will use the post offices, the state election commission offices and mobile counters in the interior areas, he said.
This will give more opportunity to those who are eligible to register (as voters). They can register anywhere in Malaysia, he told reporters at his office in Putrajaya.
Elaborating further, Wan Ahmad said under the new system the problem of eligible voters being bypassed due to missing the registration period would no longer exists.
Everyday, there will be young people reaching the age of 21, he said.
The new system will be officially launched by EC chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman on July 1.
Limited period
Under the present system, voter registration is conducted 42 days a year when EC sets up registration counters in shopping malls and community centres.
Meanwhile, Wan Ahmad said a new system for voters to check their names on the electoral rolls would also be announced once the new registration system is launched.
On the redelineation of constituencies, the commission secretary said the exercise, which is carried out once every eight years, has yet to begin.
For now, the EC chairperson has not set the official date, he said, adding that once the date is fixed, the exercise should be completed within two years.
The last redelineation exercise was conducted in 1994 and the eight-year period ended on March 11.
Earlier, six DAP members of Parliament presented a memorandum to Wan Ahmad at his office concerning Barisan Nasionals alleged election misconducts in the ongoing campaign for the Ketari by-election in Pahang.
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