GEORGE TOWN, Aug 10 — As a matter of consensus, the Election Commission (EC) usually looks for about 70 per cent of voters to carry out their responsibility to determine the formation of the government. Still, there is a trend of decreasing voter turnout after the 14th General Election (GE) in 2018.
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) political analyst Datuk Prof P. Sivamurugan believes the state elections this time will show the same trend for each state, as registered voters are describing it as not so necessary since the government has already been formed on the Federal level.
He said in Penang, the turnout trend is also expected to decrease due to the poor response to political party campaigns for almost two weeks, and the state polls appeared to be not as popular as GE15.
“The (political party’s) campaign is targeting online more by using social media, speeches are seen as bland, and the vote campaigners are active at the last moment to raise voter turnout,” Sivamurugan told Bernama.
He believes the out-of-state voters feel there is no need to return, and voters may even put up protest votes to show dissatisfaction with the political landscape of the country.
The trend was highlighted during the state elections in Sabah at 67 per cent, Melaka (65 per cent), Sarawak (61 per cent) and Johor at 55 per cent due to the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic, which began in March 2020.
The voter turnout also fell during GE15 to 73 per cent compared to GE14 at 83 per cent in 2018.
However, Penang Pakatan Harapan chairman Chow Kon Yeow is optimistic the polls turnout this time will reach over 70 per cent because, in every series of campaigns and talks, Harapan and Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates have been reminding and appealing to their voters to cast their ballot on Saturday (August 12).
“In every visit, talk and statement, we do emphasise and call on voters to come out en masse to choose the government and candidate,” he said.
Each candidate in the coalition has their own method when campaigning, including involving party leaders in the Unity Government when going out to meet voters.
The same opinion was expressed by Penang Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Datuk Dominic Lau when PN candidates have been calling on voters to vote and know their rights as citizens in their sessions to introduce their candidates.
“Therefore, I see PN candidates, apart from walkabout and going to the ground, also use social media like TikTok and Facebook to channel messages to voters, and I call on all voters to go out to vote on August 12,” he said.
The president of Gerakan and the candidate for the Bayan Lepas state constituency said that in addition to their responsibilities as citizens, going out to vote is also a determinant of the people’s representatives who will serve in their area for a period of five years.
On Tuesday (August 8), EC deputy chairman Azmi Sharom said the turnout for this state election is targeted at 70 per cent, and it is likely the figure will be lower.
A total of 570 candidates are competing for 245 state assembly seats in the state elections in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Kelantan, Terengganu, and Kedah. At the same time, there is a straight fight in the by-election for the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary constituency.
Earlier, EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh said a total of 168 candidates contesting in the state elections were from PN, 137 candidates from Harapan, 108 candidates from BN, and 77 candidates from PAS.
— Bernama
