LETTER | Almost all voters will accept the advice of the Election Commission that it's never too late to register to vote. The EC is right, but should stressed this earlier.

But nevertheless, why is this advice from the EC so vital? It is because unfortunately, over 3 million Malaysians have not registered to vote as at September last year.

Most of them will be young Malaysians above and around the age of 21. What a shame this is, and what an indictment against our youth who will be our future leaders. It's sad and perplexing.

But why have the largely young eligible voters not exercised their responsibility and duty to register to vote?

Is it indifference? Do they see no difference between government and the opposition policies? Do they see no differences between the quality, performance, commitment to serve sincerely and honestly, among all politicians, regardless of political parties? Then why not register to vote for individual GE14 candidates and not political parties?

To be fair, not all political leaders are unworthy of our votes. There are many political leaders who are just, fair and dedicated to serve their voters, with sincerity and selflessness.

Of course there are many “dirty” politicians in Malaysia, as there are in many other parts of the world. But that does not mean that we should abdicate our sacred responsibility to register to vote and to actually spoil our votes on polling day?

Both these practices can severely damage the election process and democracy itself.

That is why the #UndiRosak campaign is so destructive and disruptive to the whole election exercise. Those who indulge in supporting, and worse still participating in #UndiRosak or spoiling votes, will do us all patriotic Malaysian voters a great disservice.\

Vote spoilers can actually be seen as sabotaging the electoral system. This is most unfair to the rest of us all.

So we appeal to mostly the youth who have not registered as voters or who plan to spoil their voter to support and strengthen the electoral process and to enhance or democracy. Please don't let us down!

Please rush to the nearest post office or EC office to register to vote as soon as possible. Also, please desist from spoiling votes.

The EC also has to do much more to do to live up to its duty to the government and the rakyat. It must go all out to win over those who have not registered to vote or who plan to spoil their votes.

The EC could, for instance, employ more registrars and assistant registrars of voters; step up its promotion campaign to register voters and to discourage vote spoilers; and educate the non-registered but eligible voters to fulfil their responsibility as citizens.

The EC chairperson, Mohd Hashim Abdullah should set key productivity indicators especially during these last few months before the 14th general election. The EC should take it as a challenge to achieve higher voter targets and less vote spoiling.

The chairperson should also ensure that the independence of the EC is maintained or even enhanced in order to protect the integrity of his own post, his officers and the EC itself . Then public respect for the EC will increase and more will register to vote and would do so at a faster pace.

Gerrymandering and malapportionment should be countered to ensure a free and fair GE14. Then there would be more trust in our election system and greater confidence and faith in our democracy.

Although GE14 is around the corner, it's sad that millions of Malaysians have yet not registered to vote. Worse still there are those especially the youth, who plan to boycott the ballot box and even spoil their votes at the ballot box.

You need to Vote to protect and enhance your own future and the future of our beloved country and all our people. So please don't let us all down. Please show us your patriotism and lead the way forward for a better Malaysia.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.