People who only register to vote when they stand to win cash is a scheme for ignorant, corruptible voters, argues MCA central committee member and Kuantan MCA chief Ti Lian Ker.

In blasting PKR-linked NGO Invoke's plan to dangle a cash prize for some four million yet unregistered youths to get themselves into the electoral roll, Ti said: "Political parties or friendly-NGOs should not resort to 'bribing' eligible voters to register with incentives or rewards as this will lead to more corrupt practices.

"As it is, there are already too many allegations of fraudulent practices and corruption. It will not be wise to increase the number of voters who are not interested, or ignorant in politics, by using monetary attractions to engage, attract and register them."

Ti who is also MCA Religious Harmony Bureau chairperson, warned that such a move may not only increase the number of voters who are politically ignorant or easily "bribed", but can also increase the tendency for politicians to resort to more bribes and corruption to win an election.

"This will destroy our democratic practices and goes against the very concerns of advocates of accountability and transparency," he added in a statement issued today.

This is also why, Ti said, MCA is opposed to the automatic registration of voters.

'Justice and fair play still lacking'

"Malaysian democratic practices, justice and fair play are still lacking and wanting. We do not want a bigger pool of ignorant, lackadaisical or irresponsible voters to be increased and become the decisive votes," he warned.

Ti posited that the bigger the number of voters who are "ignorant, disinterested or impressionable" would increase bigger the danger or tendency of more political trickery or bribery.

"We cannot risk the ultimate outcome of an election to be dependent on a group of voters whose decision is not based on political correctness but based on political opportunism and driven by incentives or bribes," he further argued, warning of doom and gloom for the country’s future if such is the case.

"The outcome of the election should be decided by voters who are interested in politics and follow political developments or discourse," Ti said.

Invoke, which operates under the wings of PKR's Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli, said its idea was based on an online survey that found most youth saying that they would register if there was a cash incentive.

Those who register to vote stand a chance of winning prizes, of up to RM1,000 cash, through a weekly competition on Invoke's website.

All they need to do is to upload their voter registration slip, tell Invoke why they chose to register and provide some personal details to be in the running for the cash.

Those with the best answers every week will win the top prize of RM1,000. There are also two runner-up prizes of RM500 each and three consolation prizes of RM200 each.