Guys, you should know by now that the the 14th General Elections will be coming soon right? All the signs are there!
Yes, time flies and it has almost been five years since GE13 y’all. However, based on the latest updates by the Election Commission (EC), it appears that the youth of Malaysia isn’t that bothered about the future of our country. Sigh.
Here’s their latest findings from NST.
1. Less than 10 per cent of undergraduates registered as voters
Source: The Star
The EC reported that out of the 30,000 students they approached, only 2,700 of them were willing to be registered as voters. That’s shockingly low!
Another report by NST states that the number of unregistered voters in the country has gone down from 4.06 million to 3.8 million due to registration drives that are being conducted aggressively, the youths in Malaysia still makes up the largest group.
2. The number of potential voters aged between 18 and 39 are the lowest to register
Source: Harakah
EC chairman Tan Sri Mohd Hashim Abdullah said that this was a troubling situation and they’re working hard to rectify the issue.
“As the Election Commission, we have a great responsibility in ensuring all youth, including the 2,700 that we managed to register, come out and vote during Election Day. EC is faced with many challenges to address the issue. We are trying our best to come out with ways to get the youth to be involved in the election process,” he said.
3. Students gave reasons such as not knowing how to vote, unsure where to register and also not wanting to get involved in politics
Source: Muscat Daily
These were among the common answers given when the EC asked the youth for their reasons of not registering to vote. In case you didn’t know, this is also one of your most important responsibilities as a citizen!
A recent survey entitled ‘Public Opinion Survey: Youth Perception on the Economy, Leadership and Current Issues’ may be able to shed light as to why Malaysian youth are growing increasingly apathetic with the political scene in the country, FMT reports.
Here’s what the poll reported:
- 66 per cent of youths felt that politicians were not trustworthy
- 54 per cent said that politicians did not care about people’s problems
- 66 per cent felt that politicians themselves were the cause of the problems
- 71 per cent of the respondents felt that they had no influence on the government
- 75 per cent said that politics was complicate
- 69 per cent responded that public officials did not care about the public
- 50 per cent said they did not have time to register, and one in four felt that their vote did not make a difference
- 17 per cent of the respondents said they did not know how to register
We’re supposed to be the hope for a better future, guys.
If you’re one of those good citizens who have already registered to vote, then you’ll be glad to know that the EC has launched a new mobile app known as MYSPR SEMAK. The function of this app is to allow voters to check their registration statuses, ballot centres and live updates of upcoming polls. This free app is available for download in both Android and iOS stores.
Source: Astro Awani
Malaysians, we can’t say this enough. Every vote matters even if you feel like it doesn’t. Plus, it’s actually super duper easy to register. All you have to do is take your IC to the nearest post office or SPR office, fill up the form and that’s it. Seriously, is that even hard?
Also read: What This Malaysian Did to Cast His ONE Vote in the Elections Will Inspire You
