No to separate polls: (From left) Norhaida, Sharvin and Tan are all for holding parliamentary and state elections together.
GEORGE TOWN: Norhaida Amir, 42, had anxious moments when her husband drove 330km from here to Kuala Krai, Kelantan, just to cast his ballot in the recent state election, and then rushed back after a short rest in order to be back at work.
“There was no public holiday. It was such a hassle driving with the jam to the east coast and then rushing back. I was so worried for him,” said Norhaida, who works in a public transport company.
She added that if she had a way, she would plead with politicians to never again split up the parliamentary and state elections.
“Why do this when the elections could be held together? We save everyone’s time, energy and health,” she said yesterday.
Many other voters and even politicians shared her view that Malaysia should never have separate state and parliamentary elections again.
Hotel worker G. Sharvin recalls how his hotel’s occupancy was nearly 100% on polling day, and he almost failed to vote due to the exceptional workload.
“We were so short of staff that day. I almost didn’t vote, but later changed my mind and went.
“If the government and the politicians are for us, why create so much hardship just to vote? It could have been avoided if both polls were held together last year,” he said.
Hotel communications director Christina Tan, 51, felt that many people she knew had come to a stage where they were not bothered about voting and politics during the Aug 12 state polls for Penang, Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Selangor, and Negri Sembilan.
“The government should wrap up elections in one go and carry on with the business of governing while people carry on with their lives.
“So much politicking, mud-slinging and disparaging have made people disgusted and disillusioned about voting.
“I hope this situation does not happen again,” said Tan.
Penang PKR deputy head Datuk Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik said the biggest issue was the cost when the campaigning had to be restarted for the state polls, following the general election in November last year.
“Yes, we politicians made a decision to have separate elections, but that does not mean we do not understand the costs that come with it.
“There was election fatigue as people did not want to go through the process of taking leave and travelling home to vote. While many did come back to vote, the turnout was a little lower compared with the last general election,” added Muhammad Bakhtiar.
