NEARLY 5,000 Sabahans living in the peninsula, the majority of them university students, have applied for travel assistance to return to vote from the volunteer-run initiative #PulangMengundiSabah.

Campaign coordinator Aaron Denison said the group’s modest goal was just to help 500 youths who work or study in the peninsula, and was shocked to receive applications 10 times the number targeted.

“Since we launched in August, we have received 5,000 applications and are in the process of filtering them.

“Some 3,500 applicants are students. Our target remains 500, although it would be great if we had the means to help more people.

“We decided to focus on helping young voters because we ourselves are youth,” Denison told The Malaysian Insight, adding that one criterion for a recipient is a monthly income of less than RM3,000.

Sabahans will vote for 73 seats in the state assembly on September 26. Currently, only those 21 and above can vote, as the law to lower the voting age to 18 has not been implemented although the amendment has been passed.

Denison, who was involved in a similar initiative providing travel assistance to needy voters in the 14th general election in 2018, said he did not want Sabah youth to feel disenfranchised just because they could not afford the cost of travel to return to vote.

“We are active on Facebook and Twitter where we have seen many complaints from youth about the problems they face in returning to vote.

“Some of them are currently out of work because of the Covid-19 pandemic, while some are university students who do not have enough money because air ticket prices are expensive.”

Denison said the initiative also expects donations from the public to bring as many people as possible home to vote.

“Ticket prices range from RM350-RM400. If we manage to bring at least 500 people, we need RM170,000.

“So far, we have received RM20,000 in donations.

“We still have another week, we hope to get RM100,000.”

Pulang Mengundi Sabah will cover the full cost of a ticket for successful applicants who earn less than RM2,000 a month, and 50% of the cost for those earning between RM2,000 and RM3,000 a month, Denison said.

Assistance given will either be in the form of airline tickets, or cash, “depending on the situation”, he added.

Around 4,000 applications were received throughout August after the campaign was launched. There was a sudden surge of 1,000 applications after nomination day last Saturday.

“Sixty to 70% of them are students. We are not seeing any movement to boycott or spoil the votes (unlike in GE14). We are seeing young people eager to go home to vote.”

Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) student leader Masdania Mokhtar said she was encouraged by the response from students.

“We ourselves face financial constraints so we understand how the youth feel. There is great awareness about the importance of voting and we are trying our best to promote this campaign further to raise funds.

“It would be great if you could help half the total number who applied,” said Masdania, who is also one of Pulang Mengundi Sabah’s coordinators.

Two major blocs are contesting in the state election – Gabungan Rakyat Sabah, which consists of Barisan Nasional (Umno, MCA, MIC and PBRS) and Perikatan Nasional (Bersatu, STAR and SAPP), and Warisan Plus, which consists of Warisan Sabah, Pakatan Harapan and Upko. – September 16, 2020.