FORTY per cent of new, young voters don’t have a political party which they support in the 2022 general election, Undi18 co-founder Tharma Pillai said.

He said that a recent survey done on their behalf by a polling agency found that electors either didn’t know which party to vote for or had no information on the parties.

“Based on the survey we found out that about 40% of voters didn’t have a political party which they supported.

“However, most of them have their own views on politics, but there is no one dominant party that influences them,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

He said the nationwide survey was conducted in March and has 3,089 respondents and youth aged 18 to 30.

Tharma was dismayed that there was such a large percentage of unsure young voters.

“This matter should be very disturbing for all the political parties (out there).

“They (the youth) care about politics, are interested about the country’s democracy but they don’t know what narratives all the parties are bringing.

“Their questions are: Why should I believe you (political parties)? Why should I trust you? Why should I spend money to come back and vote for you?

“These are the questions the political parties must answer before GE15.”

He also said the youth want to know what is so unique about each political party and what they can do to improve the lives of the young.

As for creating awareness on the implementation of Undi18, Tharma said the Election Commission needs to do more about disseminating information on voter awareness.

He said that while they have carried out several initiatives at schools and universities, there is more that could be done.

“We feel that not many students have benefitted from these programmes, including seminars and talks, which we feel are traditional.

“The government needs to use new and creative methods, and work with other agencies to ensure the millions of youth know about their voting rights.”

He said during the Covid-19 pandemic there was MySejatera and constant short message service (SMS) sent by the government to update the people on what was happening in the country.

“In the same way the government can send SMS blasts to all Malaysians that have been automatically registered as voters.

“So that they will know their responsibility and right as voters.” – October 21, 2022.