CAMPAIGN CALLS FOR 100 PER CENT VOTER TURN-OUT IN NEXT GE

Campaign calls for 100 per cent voter turn-out in next GE

KOTA KINABALU April 9, 2012: The ‘Jom 100’ campaign organised by the movement of Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) is not in the business of telling the people whom to vote but is instead a call for a 100 per cent voter turn-out in the next general election with the view to strengthening the democratic system in the country.

At the launching of the state-level campaign yesterday, the chairperson, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, stressed that Article 119 of the Federal Constitution provides that every citizen who has attained the age of 21 years is entitled to vote in a constituency in any election to the House of Representatives or the Legislative Assembly unless he is disqualified under any law relating to offences committed in connection with elections.

However, no person shall in the same election vote in more than one constituency.

“If you are not registered as a voter, you must do it now, because we still don’t know when the election is to be held.

“For those who have registered as voters, please check your names in the electoral roll since there have been many cases of  names disappearing off the list and many whose polling stations have been changed unknowingly.

“This is another disappointment because the Election Commission (EC) only does something if we make noise. They will keep quiet if we stay silent.

“Why should we be doing their job to check the electoral roll?” she asked.

Ambiga stressed that it was important for the campaign to succeed because more voter turn-out will minimize the incidents of fraud in the election, for many wrongdoings have been detected and reported not only in the peninsular but more so in Sabah.

She also said that Bersih 3.0 will be held at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur on April 28 from 2pm to 4pm with half a million people expected to gather, and suggested that Sabah should hold a similar gathering to express the people’s deep disdain and disappointment with a government which manipulates the electoral system to their advantage.

“We will stage a nationwide and worldwide sit-in, known as ‘Duduk Bantah’. In fact, I have received a ‘tweet’ from Bersih Japan and Bersih Spain.”