Johor polls: Possible low voter turnout a big hurdle to overcome, says rep

JOHOR BARU: A low voter turnout among disenchanted constituents may end up helping the very candidates they do not want to vote for, says an assemblyman.

Dr S. Ramakrishnan, who won the Bekok seat in 2018, said it was worrying as this group may not turn up on polling day thinking that their votes would not make a difference.

"The prevailing sentiment is that they voted for a change in GE14 but the party that was rejected returned to power through the back door," he said in a statement on Thursday (Jan 27).

He added that voters seemed undecided if their votes mattered and were not motivated to come out to cast their ballots.

"The seven lockdowns during this pandemic caused lots of hardship and uncertainty.

"People are too preoccupied with sorting out their (troubles) and are looking for support and help," he said, claiming that voting was not their current priority.

He added that the emergence of the Covid-19 variant Omicron would add to the fear of coming out to vote.

Ramakrishnan - who is from DAP - hoped that political parties such as the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) could convince new, younger voters to turn up.

In the upcoming Johor state election, about 150,000 young voters between 18 and 21 years of age will be eligible to vote following the implementation of Undi18.