DAP MP moots automatic voter registration

(Bernama) –  Serdang Member of Parliament Teo Nie Ching today suggested that citizens who turn 21-years of age be automatically registered as voters.

The DAP parliamentarian said the automatic registration system was practised by Germany, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Taiwan and was successful in reducing the number of people who were qualified to vote but did not register themselves.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz on Thursday told the Dewan Rakyat in a written answer that till Oct 20 4,300,542 youths had turned 21 but did not register as voters.

“That is a very big number,” Teo said at a news conference in the Parliament lobby. He said if the Election Commission cooperated with the National Registration Department which had the dates of birth and addresses of all Malaysians, the process of automatic registration could be done without any problems.

Teo said time, money and effort could be saved.