WAN AHMAD: CHINESE MOST POSITIVE IN VOTER REGISTRATION

(Sin Chew Daily)
The Election Commission deputy chairman Datuk Hj Wan Ahmad bin Wan Omar said, Malaysians had become more positive in voter registration after the general elections last year, especially Chinese voters, while the Indians were the least enthusiastic.
He also told Sin Chew Daily, registration assistants appointed by DAP were the most active, followed by PAS, UMNO and PKR, while the assistants appointed by Gerakan and MIC were the least enthusiastic in registering new voters.
Wan Ahmad said, "Where campaigning is concerned, the Malays are the most positive, and they have been holding countless ceramahs. However, the Chinese seem to have the highest level of awareness for voter registration."
He said more than 2,000 registration assistants had been appointed by political parties as of last year, but more than half were not active and only fewer than 1,000 remained active today.
As such, he said the EC would request political parties to appoint new assistants.
He said each temporary registration assistant was entitled to RM1 allowance for each new voter registered, adding that the assistants appointed by DAP in Selangor, Penang, Perak and Melaka were the most active.
He said it might not be sufficient for each political party to have only one registration assistant for each state constituency, and the EC was planning to allow each party to appoint at least a few assistants in each state constituency for the voter registration exercise.
Wan Ahmad also said the last-minute mentality remained unchanged among the voters.
He explained that the EC would require at least three months to verify and legalise the status of new voters, and if by-elections or general elections were held suddenly, those without legalised voter status would not have the right to vote.