Saturday, April 07, 2007

Employers, not Election Comm, are responsible for Machap voter turnout.

Here's something absurd...

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak wants employers to give flexibility to out-of-town voters who want to exercise their voting rights in the Machap by-election on Thursday.

Since polling fell on a working day, employers must give some relaxation for their employees to cast their ballots, the Deputy Prime Minister said.

"Employers must accept and understand their responsibility in encouraging their workers to vote. If they prevent them from voting, this will lead to a low voter turnout on polling day," he told reporters.
WHY is the polling day on a working day in the first place? Why not on the weekend? Why place the burden of encouraging voter turnout on employers instead of the Election Commission?

It's like saying all doctors must accept and understand their responsibility not to let gunshot victims die. But he forgets to ask the police why people are getting shot in the first place.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is it because there's a higher percentage of Chinese voters working outstation, and therefore a higher chance of them not returning to vote, and therefore less chance of them teaching BN a lesson by voting for the opposition?

sean-the-man said...

Bingo!

That's the thinking of BN's strategists I reckon.

Add to that the fact that most of DAP's supporters are those who work in urban areas ie. those Machapians who are working in the towns and cities.