IT will be a challenge to get young voters – who are studying and working in other states – to go back to their hometowns to vote in the state polls, Undi18 said.  

Its co-founder Tharma Pillai said the government should look into the matter. 

“I believe young people will travel back if the government gives them enough time to get back.  

“That’s why civil society groups such as Undi18 and Bersih have been urging the Election Commission (EC) to announce the polling dates earlier,” he told The Malaysian Insight.  

“The EC has more than enough time to plan a suitable date and announce it earlier, so more youth can make their travel plans. 

“This is because they have to take leave, look into additional travel costs, and make other work-related arrangements. 

“These are all costs to them. There are civil society groups like the ‘Pulang Mengundi’ movement which crowdfunds and subsidises ticket fares to go back.” 

He said the Education Ministry could organise bus trips to send the students home. 

“We also hope the universities can give some days off for students to return to vote like they did in last year’s general election. This will help ease their burden.” 

Kedah and Penang have announced they will dissolve their state assemblies on Wednesday while Kelantan did so on June 22 and Selangor a day later.  

The remaining two states have yet to announce dissolution dates but the Terengganu and Negri Sembilan assemblies will dissolve automatically on June 30 and July 2 respectively.

Tharma estimated there are about 1.7 million young voters. 

He said according to political scientist Bridget Welsh, Undi18 had the second highest turnout rate in the 2022 general election at 79% after those above the age of 50, which was 80%.  

“So, it’s clear that young people are motivated and do want to be involved in the voting process. 

“We believe the same trend will be reflected in the state polls.” 

He, however, said state polls usually have a much lower turnout rate. 

“I do believe young voters will turn out again this time and a safe guess would be about 60% to 65% turnout rate. 

Undi18 in full swing on TikTok

Tharma said Undi18 would be going full swing on social media, especially on TikTok to educate youth on the state polls and the importance of voting. 

“We will be working with certain civil society groups. This will be at institutions of higher learning and schools.  

“This is to educate them on what a state election is, why it is important and to encourage them to go back and vote.” 

He said the power of social media could not be underestimated. 

“For the state polls, we will be doing a lot of TikTok videos to engage with young voters.  

“We are officially going to start from July onwards. Full swing on all social media platforms after dissolution of all the state assemblies. 

“We believe the highest density of new voters among the six states will be in Selangor, Penang, and Kelantan.” 

He added that Undi18 has volunteers and partners in all six states to help them. – June 26, 2023.