In urging Malaysians to vote, the daughter of blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, claimed that 20 per cent of Malaysians have not registered as voters, while another 25 per cent registered voters do not come out on polling day.

This, she said in a statement, meant that almost half of eligible voters do not vote.

“Considering that governments come into power on a plus-minus 5% margin, those absentee voters are responsible for the outcome of the election.”

Raja Sara’s comments come in the wake of the controversy surrounding an initiative by PKR-linked NGO Invoke, which is offering cash incentives to Malaysians who register as voters.

The initiative received flak from several quarters, including electoral reform group Bersih 2.0, which labelled the effort as “pathetic”.

Raja Sara went on to state that Malaysians should not just look at voting as a right, but view it as an obligation.

She then urged every Malaysian to not only register as a voter but to come out to vote, adding that who people voted for was their “right and decision”.

“But just make sure you are an informed voter.”

The 14th General Election must be held by August 2018.

As of 2013, there were over 13 million registered voters.