WITH all the signs ominously pointing to a dramatic drop in postal votes in Selangor, parties in the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, their campaign workers and candidates are feeling the jitters as a poor turnout on polling day will jeopardise their odds of retaining power in the state.

Among those who are concerned is Subang Jaya incumbent, Michelle Ng Mei Sze, who told The Malaysian Insight there were only 398 applications for postal ballots by those eligible.

The 33 year-old DAP representative, who is hoping to get re-elected for a second term, said the 398 were a far cry from the 1,495 applications that were received by the Subang parliamentary seat in 15th general election last November.

Subang Jaya and Kinrara are the two state seats that make up the Subang parliamentary constituency.

“A drop of almost 70%,” she said, adding that it was a drop she had not expected.

She said the lukewarm response of postal voters, coupled with the poor turnout by physical voters, could spell big trouble for her and PH.

“In previous state elections, I was personally told by some voters that I would still win without their votes.”

Ng said there was now a growing realisation that voter no-show on polling day would have an unintended effect in what pundits are claiming to be a tightly contested state.

“I was made to understand that turnouts in state polls have always been low, including the recent Johor and Malacca elections.

“However, I did not anticipate that postal voting in Subang Jaya would be so low this time.

“I’m told it’s because people generally feel state elections are not important. But if this attitude continues, there is a big chance PH could lose Selangor,” she said.

Ng said since she sounded out that there could be a dramatic drop in the postal votes this time around, the party’s diehard supporters have also become alarmed.

Despite the fears, Ng is keeping her chin up.

It’s not too late to turn things around, she said.

“We can still use what’s left of the campaign period to encourage people to come out and vote. It’s only with a high turnout that PH will have a chance of retaining Selangor.”

Ng is in a three-way fight to retain her seat, she faces S. Gana of Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Muda’s Zayd Shaukat.

The seat comprises 111,970 voters.

Missing young voters

It is not only Ng who is puzzled by the poor response of postal voters, with Seri Kembangan PH candidate Wong Siew Ki sharing the same fear.

Wong disclosed the number of applications for postal ballots received for her constituency of 62,822 voters was in the region of 160 to 180 instead of the expected 400.

The one-term Balakong assemblyman, who was moved to Seri Kembangan, believes election fatigue had crept in among postal voters.

“I think a lot of the postal voters who are overseas are tired of voting. After all, they just voted in the general election last November.”

Despite her concerns with the loss of a few hundred votes, Wong said she will not be preoccupied with it.

“We can’t rely on postal votes alone. They don’t make a large percentage (of the votes).”

But still, she said, she would use the low postal votes to drive the point why physical voters should turn out in numbers on August 12.

Wong, who is facing PN’s Ken Liau and independent Wong Jung Lik, has other worries, too, in reaching out to the voters in the constituency.

“I’m not reaching the young voters. And we have passed the midway point of the campaigning period.”

Wong said she is meeting mostly the older, mature voters in her many engagements.

“These older voters have promised they will definitely support us. They’re the converted.

“It’s the young voters who worry me.”

To reach out to them, Wong produced a short video specifically tailored to young people for online and the various social media platforms popular with young people.

PH’s Pandamaran incumbent, Tony Leong Tuck Chee is, however, critical of the attitude of overseas postal voters.

He said even though they are overseas, they should be concerned about the future of their country.

“Postal votes are important to us,” he said.

Leong, who faces Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s Tan Kang Yap and PN’s Gunalan Balakrishnan, said these ballots will shape the country the voters will return home to.

With words like “you will win even lying down” ringing in his ears, Leong, like other PH candidates, fear a poor turnout on polling day could either result in a heart-stopping wafer-thin margin win or going to the political scrap heap.

The Election Commission opened applications for postal ballot papers for the Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Penang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan state elections under Category 1A (EC officials, election workers and the media), Category 1B (Overseas Malaysians) and Category 1C (Institutions or Organisations) on June 15.

Applications closed on July 8. – August 7, 2023.