PETALING JAYA: The tabling and passing of the anti-hopping Bill in the Dewan Rakyat is already boosting confidence in the electoral process among young and first-time voters.
Videographer Shafie Adnan said with the passing of the Bill, voters would not be betrayed by those they voted for, and this would lead to more trust in government.
He said it would be a waste of time if MPs were allowed to hop from one party to another.
“With this law, voters will not be betrayed by their leaders,” said the 27-year-old.
He added that the automatic voter registration also made it a lot easier for those casting their ballots for the first time.
“I’ve voted once before and the voting registration process was very difficult. It is hard to get someone to even fill in a form, what more to go out of their way to register for voting,” he said.
Educator Mandeep Singh, 26, believes the passing of the Bill will help strengthen Malaysia’s democracy.
“I had my doubts about it actually being effective. Recall elections seem to be the fairest way to decide whether the rakyat actually voted for the candidate or the party,” he said.
Mandeep is ready to vote if the general election is called early.
Michelle Shim said while the Bill would help address political instability, she believes the law is too rigid as MPs should be allowed to choose their affiliation.
“When an MP wants to do something good and make a change but it is not agreed by the party, they can no longer leave the party and join another one to do that good thing.“Then how are they going to make that change?” said the 24-year-old, who is self-employed.
Shim, who will be voting for the first time in the 15th General Election (GE15), said she was also grateful for the automatic registration system.
She missed the registration deadline for GE14 and was looking forward to exercising her democratic rights.
Mazni Sakinah Jefree, 21, said she was more confident to vote with the passing of the Bill.
“I checked last month and saw that I’m already automatically registered as a voter in my constituency, so I am prepared to vote anytime.
“The automatic registration is a good idea because the registration process is quite hard, especially for people who are not tech-savvy,” she said.
On Thursday, the Dewan Rakyat passed the constitutional amendments of the Bill after 209 MPs voted in favour.