PONTIAN: As a reporter and a first-time voter myself, March 12 is definitely a day worth remembering.

       I was supposed to vote for the first time during the 14th General Election (GE14) in 2018.

       Unfortunately, I missed out on the opportunity after registering late as a voter – I registered about two months before the elections despite having had two years to do so.

       When the polling date was finally announced, I found out that I was not eligible to vote due to the late registration. Of course, I was very disappointed.

       This time, I wasn’t going to let that happen again. I had already decided on who to vote for in my constituency of Pulai Sebatang days before polling day, after covering dozens of physical and online ceramah.

       Traffic to my polling station at SMK Dato’ Ali Haji Ahmad was smooth. I reached it at 8.05am and was surprised that there was hardly a crowd.

       It was a completely different sight on GE14 when many people were seen making a beeline to the centre as early as 7am.

       The SOP at the voting centre was strict and voters had to sanitise their hands at least twice – once as they reached their assigned voting station and another time after dipping their fingers into the purple ink after casting their vote.

       The whole process took only about 15 minutes.

       The satisfaction of knowing that I had finally fulfilled my duty as a Malaysian citizen is priceless.

       Political consciousness came late to me, partly because I grew up in a household where voting was seen as a pointless act.

       I was proud to finally have the purple ink stain my finger.

       Most importantly, I was proud that I was finally able to convince my 52-year-old mother to vote for the first time.

       It took me days to convince her, but she did cast her vote at noon yesterday.

       Thanks to the automated registration, my mother, along with other Malaysians, can no longer use the excuse of not being registered as a voter to back away from the practice.

       It is now really up to you to decide whether you want your voice heard in the next state or general election.

       The Johor state election marks a new beginning with the implementation of automatic voter registration and the Undi18 Bill, which lowered the voting age to 18.

       I hope to see more people finally coming out to vote in the next general election. Every vote counts.