Unlike in previous elections, where the Elections Commission figures for a constituency were divided into the number of voters and their racial background, the latest electoral roll, which was gazetted on Tuesday, only states the number of voters in a particular constituency and not their race, New Straits Times said on Wednesday.

The move was the latest effort by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to seek rapprochement with ethnic minorities after the government's initial tough approach to the unprecedented street protests by ethnic Indians against alleged marginalisation.

Urging racial unity, Badawi on Wednesday said Malaysia did not belong to any individual or race.

"Malaysia is not owned by any individuals or race. It belongs to all of us, to every Malaysian citizen," he said in a message to mark the Chinese Lunar New Year.

Ethnic Indians comprise 7.8 per cent of the population.

The other races are majority Muslim Malays and ethnic Chinese who form 25 per cent of the population.

The paper quoted a source as saying that the move to identify voters as "Malaysian" was done to help the government create a Malaysian identity.