By Nasuha Badrul Huzaini
SHAH ALAM, Oct 20 — A higher voter turnout for the upcoming 15th general election (GE15) is said to be achievable as the polling day has been set on a Saturday.
Institut Darul Ehsan (IDE) senior research manager Khairul Arifin Mohd Munir in a statement said the projection was based on the 13th general polls, which was held on a Sunday (May 5, 2013) and saw a voter turnout of 84.84 per cent.
However, he said the number of Malaysians who went to the polls had dropped in GE14, which was held on a Wednesday (May 9, 2018) to 82 per cent.
“Based on facts and surveys, the majority of the public is in favour of the election being held on a weekend (Saturday or Sunday) as opposed to the middle of the week or on a weekday.
“Since the 1959 general election, the polling day has been set on a Saturday five times. After the GE14, it had become a norm for by-elections to be held on a Saturday.
“Therefore, the challenge for political parties and Malaysian citizens is on building the momentum to ensure the voter turnout percentage would surpass 80 per cent,” he said, adding that several factors would contribute to the voter turnout.
Khairul Arifin said this includes the campaign method, public mobilisation awareness and weather issues as the monsoon season is expected to occur in November and December.
“Apart from that, ‘the ease of voting’ principle must be made as a foundation to assist the voting process,” he said.
Khairul Arifin said some of the suggestions include expanding schools used as polling centres that have congested access to additional polling stations to help ease traffic congestion and reduce the number of voters concentrated in one area.
He said the number of polling centres should also be increased to allow the voters to go to the polls located near their homes.
“A high turnout reflects the large participation of the people and helps strengthen the legitimacy of a government that will be formed,” he said.
Earlier today, the Election Commission (EC) announced that the GE15 would be held on November 19 (Saturday) and early voting is on November 15 (Tuesday).
The nomination of candidates will take place on November 5 (Saturday) and the campaigning period will be held for 14 days from November 5 until November 18 at 11.59pm.
A total of 5,718,760 voters have been registered as of December of last year, when Undi18 and automated voter registration went into force, bringing the total number of eligible voters to 21.1 million.
