The National Registration Department (NRD) and the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) will be updating death records of Malaysians to facilitate cleaning up of the electoral roll.

NRD director-general Jariah Mohd Said said Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Mahmood Adam had asked for this to be done from Dec 1.

"Henceforth, when notification of death is made, the burial permit issued by the police will be updated with NRD's records which are linked directly to the Election Commission," she said at the Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reform's public hearing today.

She said under the current practice, the next-of-kin must only report deaths to the police but not the NRD as this was not a requirement under the law.

Meanwhile, the committee's chairman Dr Maximus Ongkili said so far only 1,784 Malaysians abroad had registered as voters.

He said this could be due to a lack of promotions for voter registration and that the committee would be addressing the matter.

- Bernama