The MIC has registered 27,017 new Indian voters under the party’s first phase of voter registration last Sunday, party president S. Samy Vellu said today.

Johor tops the list with 6,040 voters, followed by Kedah (5,909), Perak (3,872), Selangor (3,393), Negeri Sembilan (2,630), Pahang (1,492), Penang (1,488), Malacca (1,049), Kuala Lumpur (928), Sabah (150), Perlis (36) and Terengganu (30).

Samy Vellu said the registration was conducted by the 750 assistant registrars from the MIC appointed by the Election Commission (EC).

“Some 150 MIC division leaders and 12 state MIC chairmen supported by 4,300 MIC branch chairmen were also involved in the exercise,” he said in a statement today.

He said the second phase of voter registration would be held on Sept 19 this year.

The MIC chief said there were still many more Indians who have yet to register with the EC, and the party would identify them through its branches.

He said the MIC wanted to register as many Indian voters, especially among the youths who were considered the “decision-makers” in the next general election.

He said the party’s Wanita, Youth, Puteri and Putera wings have also been roped in to register new voters.

Samy Vellu said of the more than 600,000 MIC members, almost 500,000 of them were registered voters.  

He said the MIC would ensure that at least one million Indian voters can vote in the 13th general election.

He said out of one million Indians who were eligible to vote, 840,000 had already registered with the EC.

“MIC will work at registering 100,000 more Indians, who are among 500,000 party members identified as having not registered as voters,” he said.

- Bernama