Bersih moves to drive higher voter turnout

PETALING JAYA: Democracy is only meaningful if the majority of voters show up to cast their ballots during an election, says the Coalition for Clean and Fair Election (Bersih).

With this in mind, it has launched a campaign called VoteLokal or UndiLokal to promote the importance of the upcoming state elections and to raise voter turnout.

According to the NGO, studies and data on state elections that were not held in parallel with general elections had shown a lower turnout of between 10 and 15 percentage points.

With the voter turnout at the 15th General Election last November at 74%, this could mean that only about 60% of eligible voters show up for the state elections.

Bersih chairman Thomas Fann said the campaign aims to call for more voters to show up as many do not see the importance of state elections.

He said when the people are not interested in voting and the government or a party is elected by a small number of voters, it may not fully represent the masses, although the outcome is legitimate.

He said in the past, state elections had a high number of voters as they were held together with general elections.

Fann also added that it is the state government that manages the local councils that maintain the townships occupied by the people.

“The local councils manage rubbish collection, maintenance of roads and other matters that directly involve the people. The councils are accountable to the state government. If we end up with a bad local council, we will come out to smell the rubbish out there.

“Our interest is to constantly remind voters of the importance to come out and vote.

“If we do not make this effort, the participation in the state elections will be low. This is why we have come up with VoteLokal to see at least a 70% voter turnout,” he said at the campaign launch yesterday.

Bersih executive director Ooi Kok Hin said the campaign uses social media platforms to raise local issues and seek feedback from election candidates for solutions.