PKR polls: More voters than 2018 but low turnout in percentage terms, says comms director

KUALA LUMPUR: The number of PKR members who voted in the party election this year increased slightly to about 147,000 from 140,000 in 2018 although the voter turnout stood at only 13.5% of the party's total membership, says Fahmi Fadzil (pic).

The PKR strategic communications director, however, said that voter turn-outs at certain divisions were also high, including in Pensiangan, which hit 45%.

"It should not be viewed (solely) on the average number of people who cast their votes. Several other factors have also been identified, including logistics and technical aspects like internet reach.

"All these will be improved from time to time,” he told reporters at the Lembah Pantai parliamentary constituency Hari Raya open house here Sunday (May 29).

Fahmi said another factor for the low voter turnout was that the posts in 65 of the 222 divisions were uncontested.

Fahmi, who is also Lembah Pantai MP, denied that the low voter turnout was due to a boycott by members unhappy with the performance of Pakatan Harapan (PH).

The PKR election ended Saturday (May 28) after fresh voting was conducted at 12 divisions in several states, including Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Selangor and Sabah.

The unofficial results for the divisions will be displayed at the "PKR Election 2022" website beginning Sunday.

Meanwhile, PKR election committee chairman Dr Zaliha Mustafa, in a statement, said the results to be announced would be subject to the outcome of complaints and objections received by the committee, which are still being investigated by its complaints panel.

"The official results will be announced at the PKR congress scheduled for June 25 and 26 this year, which will be the final results for PKR Election 2022,” she said. - Bernama