LOW voter turnout for the Johor elections on Saturday could be due to voters who have never wanted to vote but were automatically added to the electoral roll, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said in Parliament today.

Despite the additional number of voters thanks to automatic voter registration, many could have decided against casting their votes as they never intended to do so in the first place, she said when answering a question on why voter turnout was low in the state polls.

“I agree that the voter turnout in the Johor elections is quite low. Only 54% and this is actually very bad for our country’s democratic system if many do not vote. 

“Maybe people are too lazy to go out and vote. Those who are automatically registered as voters, before this, they had never even wanted to vote and now find that their names are registered as voters. So they may be among those who did not go out to vote,” the Masjid Tanah MP said in Dewan Rakyat.

Mas Ermieyati was replying to a supplementary question by Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh (Ledang-PH) who asked why the voter turnout in Johor was so low.

Of some 2.59 million eligible voters, only 1,426,573 voters cast their ballots in the Johor polls – a turnout of 54.92%.

The Johor elections was the first time 18- to 20-year-olds were able to vote. They and others eligible who had never been registered before were automatically added to the electoral roll.

Barisan Nasional secured a landslide victory, winning 40 out of 56 seats contested, while DAP campaigning under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) banner claimed 11 seats. PKR and Muda, although cooperating with PH but using their own logos, won one seat each, and Perikatan Nasional won three seats. – March 16, 2022.