IN the 2013 general election, around 2.6 million new voters made a record turnout of over 84%, swaying the popular vote and leading to unexpected results in various constituencies.Since then, however, the number of new voters barely reached two million, with over 3.7 million eligible voters yet to register.

The Election Commission said that the largest group not putting their name on the election roll is those aged between 21 and 30. According to a survey on 604 Malaysians from this age cohort by Merdeka Centre and Watan – a non-partisan NGO which campaigns for youths to register and vote – the reasons they gave for their passivity are: “Busy, no time to register” and “Voting does not make any difference”. Around 70% in the nationwide study last August also said they are not interested in politics while 75% found politics to be confusing.