![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.freemalaysiatoday.com\/fmt-english\/images\/stories\/2010\/06june\/001.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMON, 21 JUN 2010 15:27<\/p>\n
By Ken Vin Lek<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR: Nurul Izzah Anwar, the PKR’s MP for Lembah Pantai, has called for the reform of the Election Commission to improve and streamline its voter registration system.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is time we put an end to its archaic system when it comes to voter registration,\u201d said Nurul at a forum organised organised by online news portal The Nut Graph last night.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 1999, as many as 600,000 were denied their right to vote simply because they could not be registered in time for the general election.<\/p>\n
“As it is, it takes 11 months from the date of registration for an individual to be qualified as a voter. This needs to be improved with a better system put in place,” she added.<\/p>\n
“Many MPs in Pakatan Rakyat have launched voter registration drives in the past months in an effort to ensure that those eligible can exercise their right to vote in the next general election.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe challenge now is for all political parties to win over the youth and get them a chance to register as voters ahead of the next general election.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to ask Khairy (Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin) to join forces to help in the effort to reform the voter registration system,\u201d said Nurul.<\/p>\n
Khairy, the MP for Rembau, was also present at the event. He said voters should be allowed to vote without having to register, as it is a fundamental right of all citizens.<\/p>\n
\u201cVoting is a right of all citizens of Malaysia and we should not even ask them to register. They should\u2019ve already been registered automatically in the first place.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will take it a step further by asking that the federal constitution be amended so that people can vote without the hassle of having to register,\u201d said Khairy.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"\/fmt-english\/images\/stories\/2010\/06june\/001.jpg\")
In a Merdeka Centre poll carried out on May 16, 47 percent of the respondents felt that the main role of an MP was to voice out their constituent\u2019s concerns over national policies while 29 percent expected them to attend to issues within their constituency.[see chart below]\n<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.freemalaysiatoday.com\/fmt-english\/images\/stories\/new%20picture%206.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"