Every five years, Malaysians head to the polls to cast their votes during the general and state elections. Before you can vote, you’ll need to register with the Election Commission (aka SPR). Usually, this can be done at your nearest post office or at SPR branches or outlets nationwide.
To make registration accessible to everyone, you can now register yourself online through the mySPR daftar portal.
To register, you’ll need to create an account via the MySPR Daftar portal and submit the following:
- Personal details
- Upload a picture of your MyKad
- A selfie of yourself holding the MyKad
Once that’s done, you will receive an activation email from the Election Commission. From there, you can activate your account with a TAC verification and then, you can proceed to login. Once you’re logged in, you’ll need to fill up more details including details of a witness, followed by another TAC verification.
If all of these steps are just too troublesome, you can just register yourself at your nearest post office with just your MyKad. For Malaysians overseas, you can register at the Malaysian embassy or consulate. Do note that this online registration process is only for Malaysians aged 21-years old and above as the new law amendment has yet to take effect.
Recently, the Dewan Rakyat has passed a bill amendment that lowers the voting age from 21 to 18 years old, and it also includes automatic voter registration. Although it has received a huge backing in parliament, it will take time for automatic registration to be implemented. EC chairman, Azhar Harun has reminded Malaysians to register themselves as voters and not to wait until the automatic voter registration to take effect.
The next general election will take place in 2023, while the upcoming Sarawak state election is expected to take place latest by June 2021. If you’re a Sarawakian that has yet to register as a voter, you are encouraged to register yourself as soon as possible to be eligible to vote. It was reported that over four million eligible Malaysians have yet to register themselves as voters.
If you’re not sure if you’ve registered, you can check your voter status here.
