THE Election Commission (EC) must create more awareness for those who are eligible to cast their ballots following the new law that allows 18 year olds and above to vote, Bersih chairman Thomas Fann said.

He said it was crucial in view of the upcoming general election that those 18 years and above know the voting process.

“Our concern is that many are unaware that anyone 18 and above can vote without pre-registering.

“We urge the EC to launch a massive public education exercise through both mainstream and social media to raise the awareness level,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

With the implementation of Undi18 and automatic voter registration (AVR) as of January 2022, an additional 5.8 million voters will be added to the current 15.3 million eligible voters, bringing the total to 21.1 million on the electoral roll.

Fann said that the public education campaign should also include the process of casting their votes safely on polling day.

“Bersih will also be running such awareness campaigns so that we can push voter turnout to at least 75%.”

On whether the EC has been providing enough information on the election process, Fann said that the commission needs to do more to educate the people.

“The Akademi Pilihan Raya (APR) is conducting briefings and training for educational institutions, government agencies, civil society groups and others but these are not reaching the public at large.

“The EC should engage with broadcasters like RTM, Bernama, and even private media organisations to come out with a campaign to create awareness.”

It was reported that the EC, through the Akademi Pilihan Raya, had implemented the Voter Education Programme since 2017 to ensure that all levels of society were given an understanding of the importance of democracy.

Fann said the challenge for all stakeholders in the upcoming elections was to push for a higher voter turnout now that Undi18 and AVR are implemented.

“If nothing is done, we may see a turnout of 60% or lower.

“This would mean whoever wins the election would not have a strong mandate to govern as there would be more who didn’t vote for the government (they want) than those who did.”

Early this month, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had announced that general elections would be held soon.

He urged the people to work hard as if elections would be held tomorrow.

As the country continues to grapple with the Covid pandemic, Fann cautioned voters to remain wary of the virus.

“The basic Covid-19 restrictions like social distancing, wearing masks, and sanitising should be maintained.

“Special tents should be available for those infected or under-quarantine so that no one should be denied their constitutional right to vote.”

Fann said that Bersih needed at least 300 volunteers to observe around 30% of the parliamentary constituencies in the upcoming election.

“Since 2018, we have been working with the EC as their ‘Pemerhati’ (observers), which means we are able to observe the whole voting process — right into the voting rooms and the counting process.”

Those interested can register online  at https://bit.ly/bersihpemantau. – August 13, 2022.