Ng speaking to Guan Di Temple Bandar Sunway chairman Koay Teng Koon while on her campaign rounds yesterday. — LOW LAY PHON/The Star
INCUMBENT Subang Jaya assemblyman Michelle Ng is urging all registered voters to cast their ballots on Aug 12.
She said if possible, voters should delay their travel plans that weekend so that they could exercise their democratic right to vote.
Ng’s message came following concerns about a “significant reduction” in the number of postal ballots issued for the Subang Jaya state seat for the Selangor polls.
“During the 15th General Election last year, there were 2,850 postal ballots issued for the Subang parliamentary seat,” she said.
“There are two state seats under Subang, namely Subang Jaya and Kinrara.
“So if we divide that figure, it averages out to 1,425 postal ballots per state constituency.
“We found out on Monday that only 398 postal ballots were issued for Subang Jaya.
“This is very worrying as it means there is a 70% reduction in postal ballots.
“There is also concern that this could be reflective of the voter turnout on polling day,” she said.
The 33-year-old said Pakatan Harapan estimated that a 65% voter turnout was needed for the coalition to retain Selangor and to continue governing the state.
“I hope Subang Jaya voters will take heed of this warning and head to their polling stations on Aug 12.
“They shouldn’t be complacent and assume their votes don’t matter,” she said.
It is not known whether there is a similar decrease in postal ballots for the surrounding urban seats.
Ng implored people to try to change their travel plans for that weekend. The appeal arose based on the trend observed among polling agents and counting agents for the constituency.
“We require about 540 polling agents and counting agents for Subang Jaya, but about 15% pulled out because they are travelling on Aug 12,” said Ng.
On possible reasons for people putting off plans to vote, she said these included voter fatigue, lack of awareness of the difference between last year’s general election and this year’s state election, and the belief that their votes did not matter.
Ng, Pakatan Harapan’s candidate for Subang Jaya, was speaking at a press conference during her campaign rounds in Bandar Sunway yesterday.
StarMetro was informed that 658 postal ballots were issued for the neighbouring Kinrara state seat, which brought the total to 1,056 postal ballots for the two state seats under Subang parliamentary constituency.
Ng is locked in a three-cornered fight for Subang Jaya in the Selangor election.
Her fellow contenders in that constituency are S. Gana (Perikatan-Bersatu) and Zayd Shaukat (Muda).
Ng will be contesting in Subang Jaya for the second time, having won the seat in the 2018 General Election with a 48,272 majority.
There are 111,970 registered voters in Subang Jaya.
