Despite brickbats from MCA and electoral reform group Bersih, PKR-linked NGO Invoke’s offer of cash prizes to encourage the youth to register as voters has received a cautious welcome from analysts.

Penang Institute senior fellow Wong Chin Huat said he welcomed all efforts to promote voter registration, including Invoke’s prize offer, since voter registration is time-consuming and not automatic.

“Voting is how people take ownership of the country. Where voter registration is automatic and all-year-round, voters can also make that decision on the polling day itself.

“In Malaysia, where electoral rolls get updated only once every three months and sometimes certain registrations could take a mysteriously long time to be approved, eligible citizens may realise too late, when they want to vote, that they can’t because they are not registered,” Wong told Malaysiakini when contacted on Tuesday.