Umno to rope in 1,800 volunteers for polls

PETALING JAYA: Umno will rope in over 1,800 volunteers to carry out its upcoming party elections, which will be its biggest ever.

Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said the volunteers, comprising mostly university undergraduates, would help carry out polling and vote counting under the supervision of the party’s election committee representatives.

More than 146,000 voters will take part in the coming polls which will be conducted at the party’s 191 divisions nationwide.

“The 1,800 volunteers will undergo a three-day training course. We will carry out mock elections during their training to help familiarise them with the electoral process, including vote counting,” said Tengku Adnan.

Polling for positions at division and supreme council levels will be done simultaneously at all party divisions on Oct 19.

Elections for Umno Youth, Wanita and Puteri leadership positions will be held on Oct 12.

Polling for top party positions in previous Umno elections only involved 2,500 voting delegates, but new election regulations allow voters to take part in great numbers.

Tengku Adnan said Umno decided to adopt an electoral college voting system, where every division is accorded one vote, in order to make the polls more manageable in view of the large number of electors this

We will carry out mock elections during their training to help familiarise them with the electoral process, including vote counting. — DATUK SERI TENGKU ADNAN TENGKU MANSOR

time around.

Under the system, the candidate with the most support from the branch-level delegates in the respective division polls will secure that division’s single vote.

For the vice-presidential race, the top three candidates with the highest votes in the respective divisions will be given a vote each.

Similarly, the top 25 supreme council contenders in every division would be given a vote each.

Johor has the highest number of divisions (26) followed by Sabah (25), Perak (24), Selangor (22), Kedah (15), Kelantan (14), Pahang (14) Federal Territory (13) and Penang (13).

States with a lower number of divisions are Negri Sembilan (eight), Terengganu (eight), Malacca (six) and Perlis (three).

Umno disciplinary board special committee acting chairman Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas said the party elections would be one of the biggest logistical exercises that the party has conducted.

“We need to have personnel and volunteers in nearly every corner, including in remote areas in Sabah where some of our divisions are located, so this will be a major test of our party organisation,” he said.