Why I am not a registered voter

aken from : No rush to sign up now

THE STAR conducted a random poll of those aged 21 and above and asked those not registered as voters why they had yet to do so.

Here are what some of them said:

Nurul Syatirah Abu Safran, 24, assistant director for television programmes: I haven’t registered because it is not convenient. I was in Perth studying, and since I came back about a year ago, I’ve been too busy working.

When I was back on holiday, the queue at the post office was too long, or I didn’t have the time. I went to the post office in Carrefour, Subang Jaya, but they told me to go to another post office because they could not register me there. I don’t remember why.

I will register by the next general election – there is no need to rush as I have until 2008.

M. Jayaprakash, 24, engineer: There is no emphasis to get young people to register. In the first place, I don’t even know where to go.

There is no sense of urgency. It is like a blood donation campaign – we know that we should go, but most of us don’t.

My friends and I also feel that it won’t make any difference if we voted.

Norhaslinda Abdul Jalin, 23, secretary: I had no time to register for the last general election due to work commitments.

I tried to register a couple of times but changed my mind because of the long queues.

Besides, it is difficult to get time off from work.

Rus Izman Rusli, 23, consultant: I haven’t registered because I don’t know how.

If political parties want young people like us to vote then they should reach out to us instead of making us reach out to them.

Chan Yin Ee, 21, research consultant: I plan to register but will most likely procrastinate until the last minute.

Nurdiana Jais, 24, accounts clerk: The thought of lining up to vote is just boring and I don’t think that my vote matters.

I will register in time for the next general election.

Nasreen Mustapha, 23, business executive: I am aware that everybody’s vote counts but how am I supposed to register when I don't know where to go, or how to register.

At university, it was compulsory for us to vote or else we were not allowed to sit for our examinations. Besides, there was wide publicity on ways to register as a voter in campus elections.

Mohd Fairuz Yusof, 25, consultant: I only found out how to register days before the last general election, and by then it was too late.

I will definitely register as a voter for the next elections.

When I was younger, I did not know why voting was important.

Even when I discovered its importance in the last general election, I could not decide which party to vote for.

*** added my opinion below

Eddie Ramonez, 28, web guy: I did not register as a voter because it was my decision not to. I do not like how the election process is being handled. I depend transparency and I demand neutrality of the process.

I do not like how unlawful are the contesting parties during the campaigning period. Corruptions vs extremism. I do not enjoy choosing the lesser of 2 evils to lead my country.

I choose not to vote as it is my right. If you forces me to vote, then I definately do not want you to run this country.