By Nasuha Badrul Huzaini
SHAH ALAM, Nov 4 — There has been a rising interest and growing intention to vote in the upcoming 15th general election (GE15), says a survey by Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research.
The independent pollster said the survey found that 80 per cent of respondents over the age of 50 are likely to vote, followed by those aged 31 to 50 (74 per cent), and those aged between 18 and 30 (68 per cent).
“On factors driving voting choices, 31 per cent of the voters prefer to cast their votes on local candidates, followed by the party (21 per cent) as opposed to national leadership (13 per cent).
“We note there are some differences between age groups. First-time young voters aged up to 20 are twice as likely to look at national leadership (24 per cent) compared to the rest of the electorate.
“Younger voters are also more open with their responses compared to older generations,” said the research house in a statement today.
Titled ‘Malaysia’s Upcoming Elections: The State of Play‘, the survey involved 1,209 Malaysian voters aged 18 and above, comprising 52 per cent Malay, 29 per cent Chinese, 7 per cent Indian and 6 per cent each of Muslim and non-Muslim Bumiputeras from Sabah and Sarawak.
Meanwhile, the survey also showed increasing movement in voter preferences with 26 per cent of respondents more inclined to Pakatan Harapan, followed by 24 per cent in favour of Barisan Nasional (BN).
“However, there was a high tendency of hesitation in reporting preferences whereby 31 per cent of the respondents are unsure of which party they are going to vote for.
“For candidate characteristics, the two most important desirable features are someone who ‘has good ideas for the country’ at 27 per cent, ‘clean and trustworthy’ (24 per cent) and ‘able to bring development to the area’ (13 per cent).
“Here again, young voters place greater emphasis on ‘clean and trustworthy’ at 34 per cent and hold lesser importance on a candidate’s ability to ‘bring development’, which garnered only 4 per cent,” it said.
Merdeka Centre opined the presence of three significant coalitions with large bases of support as well as uncertainties on likely turnout rates makes it difficult to estimate the outcome in terms of the projected number of parliamentary seats.
“At this point, with the lower-than-expected level of Malay voters’ support for BN, it is possible to imagine that no single coalition will attain a large enough plurality to form a government with just one other party or coalition.
