Some will not be able to vote for various reasons

The rakyat voices out: (from left) Razali, Inder and Amanda

SEREMBAN: Retired police sergeant Inder Singh Arjan Singh, who has been a regular voter all these years, will not be voting this time around. He said that he would be going abroad for a holiday with his wife and several family members and they would only be returning in the middle of August.

“We voted during the parliamentary elections in November last year, but sadly, we will not be able to do the same for the state election.

“I have never missed the chance to cast my ballot, but since we had planned this holiday months ago, there is nothing that we can do,” said Inder, who will be turning 70 later this year. He expressed hope that the parliamentary and state elections would be held simultaneously in the future, like in previous practices.“Lots of public funds are wasted if the polls are held separately. And when it is held separately, it will only lead to endless politicking,” he said.

Former journalist Razali Pilus, 67, said that politics had been the main topic discussed at the mamak stalls.

“This is rather unfortunate as so much of time has been spent on unnecessary politicking,” said Razali who will be out to vote with his wife on Aug 12.

Razali, who covered many elections over the years, concurred that parliamentary and state elections should be held together.

“Why do we need to inconvenience the people to vote separately? It is a waste of resources,” he said, adding that not everyone who lived outside the state was able to come back to cast their ballot.

Amanda Grace, a 23-year-old intern in Kuala Lumpur, would not be returning home to vote due to work commitments.

Although polling is being held on a Saturday, she said her work schedule was in the way.

“Furthermore, the heavy weekend traffic to Seremban and then having to go back to KL within a given time will not make it possible for me to return home.”

Amanda suggested the authorities look at implementing an online voting system so that all eligible Malaysians could vote irrespective of where they were.

Human resources consultant C. Sathasivam, who will be voting in Lobak, said it was frustrating to have to go to the polling station again.

“But as a responsible citizen, I will vote on Aug 12 as all of us have a duty to ensure that there is political stability and economic growth,” he said.

Sathasivam said the RM420mil to be spent on the polls in the six states could have been put to better use if these had been held simultaneously with GE15.

He expressed hope that there would be no repeat of holding separate parliamentary and state polls.“If you have separate parliamentary and state polls, we are only going to get bogged down by politics and there will be less work done,” he added.