State polls: Senior citizens in Kedah can't wait to cast their ballots

ALOR SETAR: Septuagenarian Doway Mahmud is adamant about fulfilling her responsibility as a voter as she is confident that her one vote is crucial to determining the results of the Kedah state election on Saturday (Aug 12).

The 78-year-old, who is fondly called ‘Tok Yah’, said the responsibility of voting is very important in the country’s democratic process to ensure a better future for the generations to come.

Tok Yah also advised her 10 grandchildren, who will be voting in the state polls this time, to make the right decision by choosing elected representatives who can provide quality service throughout their five-year term.

"Normally, my children will send me to the polling centre and then the EC (Election Commission) staff will roll me in on my wheelchair to cast my ballot.

"I have never failed to vote and I also asked my children, who live elsewhere like in Kajang, Selangor, to come back and vote (in Kedah),” she told Bernama here on Thursday (Aug 10)

Meanwhile, another senior citizen from Merbok, Sungai Petani, 72-year-old Mokhtar Hashim is also excited about going out to vote despite his failing health, since having to undergo dialysis treatment two years ago

However, Mokhtar, who is now wheelchair-bound, refuses to let it stand in his way from fulfilling his duty to choose a leader capable of governing and managing the state known as the Rice Bowl of Malaysia.

"Voting is very important, so I have never missed it each time a state election or general election is held because each time this (voting) process is held, it is about choosing the leader who can affect something (development) in the state.

"Each time we vote, we must think first and see what (the political parties) have done before putting marking the ballot paper,” said Mokhtar, who will be voting in the Tanjong Dawai constituency at the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sungai Layar polling station.

He also urged young people in the state, who are beginning to show more maturity regarding national politics, to also fulfil their responsibilities for the sake of their future.

According to the EC, a total of 1,585,085 people in Kedah are eligible to vote in the state polls this time, with 114,061 of them comprising those aged 70 and above.- Bernama