Electoral Reform Committee wants people to vote where they live

The Electoral Reform Committee (ERC) is studying a form of system to ensure that each person votes in his or her place of residence, said its chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman.

He said many countries enforced such a practice, which was seen as viable to be adopted in Malaysia.

He said that based on a survey, Kelantan and Terengganu recorded the highest number of voters residing in other states but voted in the two East Coast states.

“In Kelantan, there are about 60,000 voters living elsewhere, so too in Terengganu...this is not cheating, these are valid voters but who reside outside the states but continue to be registered as voters in Kelantan (and Terengganu).

“This is not accurate and shouldn’t happen. These voters, because they now stay and work outside Kelantan, should be voting in their current place of residence,” he told reporters after delivering the general lecture on ‘Electoral reforms in Malaysia’ at Universiti Utara Malaysia in Sintok, Kedah today.

Abdul Rashid said the ERC would conduct a thorough study on the matter before submitting its proposals to the government.

Earlier in his lecture, he said the very high number of voters from the two states residing outside caused a disproportionate situation between the population and the number of voters.

“This is because when the population census is carried out, they use their current residential address, but when they vote, they use the address in their state,” he said.

- Bernama