Dr Sim urges EC to remove deceased voters from electoral roll

By Karen Bong

KUCHING, Dec 8: Batu Kawah incumbent Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian is urging the Election Commission (EC) to quickly clean up and update the electoral roll to remove deceased voters from the list. 

The matter came to his attention following recent visits to elderly new voters who have been automatically registered under Undi18 but from which he discovered many of them have already passed away. 

“Under Undi18, many elderlies who are not registered previously would become voters. 

“Although their names are probably on the list, they passed away a long time ago with the oldest aged 106,” he revealed on a social media post today. 

Dr Sim, who is also Minister for Local Government and Housing, thus emphasised that the EC should quickly clean up the electoral list announced recently.

“This is to empower new voters to participate in the next General Election which is expected (to be held) soon in 2022,” he added. 

The clean-up, he pointed out, will have an impact on the registered voter composition of the constituency, including backgrounds of voters and he projected that the number of Bumiputera voters in Batu Kawah would jump to an estimate of 44 per cent of the constituency. 

“The GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) government was among the first in Malaysia to gazette our law in Sarawak to lower the age of joining politics from voting to running for election to 18,” he said. 

Undi18, which lowers the voting age for Malaysians from 21 to 18 and allows automatic registration of voters aged 18 and above, will come into effect on Jan 1, 2022 following the gazettement of the Constitution (Amendment) Act 2019 on Dec 1. 

However, Undi18 will not be implemented in the upcoming 12th Sarawak Election fixed for Dec 18 as the polls will only involve registered voters list in the updated electoral roll as of Nov 2. 

The electoral roll was endorsed before the dissolution of the 11th Sarawak State Legislative Assembly on Nov 3, in accordance with Regulation 9 of the Elections (Registration of Electors) Regulations 2002. — DayakDaily