OBTAINING THE YOUNG PEOPLE’S “VOTE BANK”
BY LOSHINNIY NAIR
PETALING JAYA, 07 AUGUST- Youth voters, who make up at least a third of the electorate, are significant in nearly half of the 245 state seats up for grabs in the six state elections. Election analyst Dr. G. Manimaran states that there are at least 106 state seats with an average of between 30% and 40% of their voters below 30 in Selangor, Penang, Negri Sembilan, Terengganu, Kelantan, and Kedah. These figures indicate that youth voters could play a pivotal factor in many seats, and political coalitions need to resonate with them.
Manimaran observed that many voters had already made up their minds during the first week of the campaign, but as political coalitions raced against time to reach out to voters through physical campaigns. Dr. Tunku Mohar Tunku Mohd Mokhtar of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) said that young Malay voters in non-urban areas are likely to vote for Perikatan Nasional due to their ethnically polarized educational experience and their gullibility to propaganda.
Tunku Mohar described youth votes as a “vote bank” that political parties have to penetrate in order to prevail in the state polls. However, parties must also realize that young voters are not a cohesive political unit, as their interests and needs are as diverse as voters of other age groups as stated in the Star.
Capturing the youth ‘vote bank’ | The Star
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