KUALA LUMPUR – The International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) student union will be collaborating with other groups and authorities to improve voter turnout among youth for the upcoming general election (GE15).
In a statement today, the union said it will take appropriate action to ensure the student community is able to exercise its rights and responsibilities as citizens to cast votes.
“With weeks to go, collaborations with relevant groups, movements, bodies, and authorities will be formed to ensure qualified voters can return to their constituencies (to vote),” it said.
It added that participation in GE15 is a way for citizens to support policies that address the needs of their communities and voice their say on societal decisions.
“Citizens who are qualified to vote must exercise their right to vote. Your vote is important for more than just civic duty,” the union said.
During polling day on the 14th general election (GE14) in 2018, which fell on a Wednesday, citizens had taken to social media to offer financial assistance and transportation aid to cash-strapped voters.
Using the hashtag #PulangMengundi (return home to vote) on Twitter, netizens rallied to encourage voter turnout, a move replicated by a student-led secretariat during the Johor state polls in March this year.
Meanwhile, National Association of Malaysian Muslim Students president Ahmad Farhan Rosli called on the Election Commission (EC) to take into account the factors affecting the student population when it came to casting ballots.
PKPIM said this light of #Undi18, which has seen an influx of youth voters after constitutional amendments were passed in 2019 to lower the voting age to 18 from 21.
“Some of the matters (which the EC should consider) are the mid-semester holidays and convocation ceremonies involving a majority of universities in Malaysia set to take place in November,” he said in a separate statement today.
He also suggested that the EC set voting day to be on a Saturday or Sunday to ease the process for student and youth voters, adding that GE15 will see students making up over 5.70 million eligible voters.
Yesterday, caretaker prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had announced the dissolution of Parliament, paving the way for an election to be held within 60 days of the dissolution.
It is widely speculated, however, that polling could be held in early November to avoid the peak of the year-end monsoon season. – The Vibes, October 11, 2022
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