Expect lower voter turnout at state elections outside of GE, say experts
PETALING JAYA: While many are eager to cast their ballots during the coming state elections, voter turnout should be higher if there is no decoupling between state and federal polls, say analysts.
Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) chairman Thomas Fann said separating the two elections over eight months resulted in logistics problems and fatigue for some voters.
“The decoupling of the state election from the federal election for these six states means that voters have to come out to vote twice instead of once as practised in previous elections.
“If there is voter fatigue, it would most likely be carried over from the incessant politicking and instability we had to endure since the Sheraton Move in 2020.
“After the 15th General Election, most voters just wanted to get on with life and not be further dragged with more politicking,” he said when contacted.
The decoupling of the polls, he said, had also altered the view of voters on the importance of voting by giving less emphasis on the state polls compared to the federal election.
“Fatigue is one reason, lower priority for state elections is another, and the inconvenience of travelling home to vote is another,” Fann said.Bersih is currently running a campaign called #VoteLokal to push for a higher voter turnout due to these factors.
Political scientist Prof Wong Chin Huat said the prolonged gap between the federal and state elections would be felt more by casual party supporters who feel disillusioned due to incessant politicking and fatigue.
“The ones who feel the fatigue will be the middle-ground voters without strong party affiliation.
“They probably feel lost and frustrated because political parties keep fighting each other yet their daily problems are not being solved,” he said when contacted yesterday.
The problems related to separate federal and state polls, he added, could have been addressed earlier to avoid the probability of a lower voter turnout.
“The election date could have been announced ahead of time if the state governments decided in advance the date of dissolution.
“This would ease planning for voters, election officials, party workers and even businesses while making the election less of a hassle,” he said.
Wong of Sunway University, added that the Election Commission could have introduced distant early voting to allow outstation voters to vote without the need to travel home again.
“The government may have itself to blame for not introducing the two simple reforms to make voting easier and more convenient,” he added.
The polling date for the six state elections on Aug 12 comes almost nine months after GE15, which was held on Nov 19 last year.
An online poll by The Star showed that 73.12% of respondents said they would cast their ballots in the coming state elections.
Another 13.44% indicated their unwillingness to vote due to fatigue while 10.28% remained undecided.Also, 3.16% chose to provide custom response to the poll, with a respondent sitting out the poll owing to pre-existing travel plans on polling day.
GE15 saw an almost 74% voter turnout, while the two previous state polls in Melaka in 2021 saw a 65.85% voter turnout and 54.92% for the Johor state election in March last year.
Universiti Sains Malaysia senior lecturer Dr Azmil Mohd Tayeb also said that separate federal and state polls only made it harder for voters.
“The Malaysian electorate system does not make it easy for outstation voters to vote.
“Also, some voters see state elections as having less importance than the federal election, hence their willingness to sit out the coming state polls,” he said when contacted.
Election analyst Dr G. Manimaran said this is the first time where federal and state polls were held separately.
He said this only made competition between the political parties even more stiff, particularly involving outstation voters.
“Competition for votes will be high in states such as Kedah, Terengganu and Kelantan.
“This is because this is the first election where these outstation voters will have to travel back to cast their votes again,” he said when contacted.
Universiti Utara Malaysia associate professor Dr Ummu Atiyah Ahmad Zakuan said Muslim voters are the ones who are more likely to feel fatigue due to the polls being held separately.
“They voted in the general election in November and most of them had travelled back home again for Hari Raya Aidiladha at the end of June.
“They will incur extra cost and time for these trips. As such, some will less likely travel back to vote again,” she said when contacted.
