PADANG SERAI - It was a disappointing trip back home for the Nassruddin clan when they were made aware that the Padang Serai election has been cancelled and moved to 7 Dec 2022.
The siblings, Affan Nassruddin (27) and Alyana Nassruddin (22) who are now based in Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh, respectively, made their way home to Padang Serai on Wednesday night.
"We found out when news broke on Wednesday afternoon when we have already planned to make the journey home that night,” said Affan when contacted by Sinar Daily.
"We were all waiting for the announcement that the polls would be postponed or continued but since there was no official news that came from the Election Commission (EC) that night, we travelled back anyways. We didn't want to risk not voting.”
EC announced its decision to postpone the Padang Serai election on Friday, a day before the 15th General Election (GE15) on 19 Nov, 2022, following the death of Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate M. Karupaiya on Wednesday.
Karupaiya, 69, died due to heart complications while being treated at the Kulim Hospital. At the time, he was defending the seat for the second term after winning in the previous GE with a 8,813-vote majority against Muhamad Sobri Osman from Pas and Datuk Dr Leong Yong Kong from Barisan Nasional.
When asked if they would still make the trip home to vote on 7 Dec, 2022, first-time voter Alyana is still undecided.
"I am still undecided on this because we are eager and motivated to exercise our right as a Malaysian, especially for me as a first-time voter,” she said.
"It would also depend heavily on the results of the GE as we would already know who the Government is by then and the results of Padang Serai might not have such a major impact. We might just leave the voting to the actual people of Padang Serai.
The siblings are also open to the possibility of postal voting for 7 Dec as it would make it easier for them to exercise their rights.
"I do believe that for the next GE, I will go through the process to change my voting area as it makes more sense for me to vote where I live rather than to balik kampung each time,” added Affan.
GE15 is currently ongoing with as much as 58 per cent voter turnout as of 2pm.