By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Nov 13: Automatic registration for voters aged 18 and above has served as the major contributing factor to the significant rise in registered voters within the Batu Kitang constituency.
Batu Kitang incumbent Datuk Lo Khere Chiang stated this while responding to the media regarding the reasons for the 90.8 percent surge in voters in his constituency, which reaches 39,721 on the 2026 electoral roll, compared to 20,820 in 2021.
“I think it’s natural. Number one, we have this automatic registration for above 18 years old. I think that is a major contribution to this 39,000 voters,” said Lo at a press conference held at Sarawak Untied Peoples’ Party Batu Kitang Service Centre here today.
He explained that the increase also included voters transferred from other polling stations whose identity card addresses are in Batu Kitang.
However, he added these group of voters still made up the minority. Automatic registration of young voters, he said, is still the major factor leading to spike in Batu Kitang 2026 electoral roll.
Lo noted that today’s youth are knowledgeable, tech-savvy, and active on social media, making them well-informed about current developments.
He thus expressed confidence that they will be firmly behind Sarawak and support the initiatives of the State leadership headed by Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
Lo faced a four-cornered fight in Batu Kitang in Sarawak Election 2021 where he retained the seat with a majority of 4,163 votes against Democratic Action Party’s (DAP) Abdul Aziz Isa (2,144 votes), Parti Sarawak Bersatu’s (PSB) Lu Thian Leong (1,812 votes) and Parti Bumi Kenyalang’s (PBK) Wong Tun Teck (675 votes).–DayakDaily
