Voter turnout in Penang worrying - Guan Eng

AIR PUTIH - The voter turnout for state polls in Penang is worrying, says Dap chairman Lim Guan Eng.

Speaking to reporters at SMKJ Chung Hwa Confucian here today, Lim said the number was lower compared to the 15th General Election (GE15) last year.

“The turnout percentage so far is not that high compared to last year’s GE15.

“We are very worried, if the percentage of votes goes down, it will affect the results of the state election to some extent.

“So far, the voters turnout has dropped by 10 per cent,” he said.

Therefore, Lim urged voters to come out and exercise their rights as Malaysian citizens so that they could determine the future and the state government which would be formed later.

The former finance minister further said that transport assistance would be provided to those who have transportation issues today.

“If there is any problem with transportation, we provide a vehicle to take them to the polling station, so do contact our service centre,” he said.

Commenting further, Lim said that he met with many elderly and voters who flew thousands of miles just to cast their votes for the state polls.

“Just now I met a family who came all the way from Germany to cast their vote, if someone from overseas could come today, I believe there won’t be any problem with the locals to do their responsibility.

“There are also many elderly voters, I met a 98-year-old voter and I bet there are many other elderly too, I truly admire their spirit,” he said.

Earlier today, Lim together with his mother Neo Yoke Tee and his sister Lim Hui Ying cast their votes at SMKJ Chung Hwa Confucian.

The situation here was calm as it was controlled by Election Commission (EC) officers and police personnel.

EC officers were also seen assisting the elderly voters on wheelchairs and making their voting process easy and smooth.