Election VI: Voter Apathy
In the US and the UK, voter apathy is partially explained by the lack of choice. The two main contending parties in each case are so similar in policies and outlook that there’s not much from which to choose. One’s a centre-left and the other’s a centre-right. But they’re both essentially middle-of-the-way parties.
In Malaysia, voter apathy could also probably be explained by the lack of choice. Unfortunately, here, that’s more because the offerings on the table are so different and in one case, so unthinkable - at least to me, that there’s not much of a choice at all. This is compounded by the fact that, and I can’t stress this enough, the absolute results, i.e. who will be forming the next government, is known. With certainty. By all. (see this earlier post)
There’s a different dimension to voter apathy and that’s the apathy to action.
It’s not that I haven’t made up my mind where I would place my cross on the ballot paper. While I am an “undecided voter”, I am undecided about whether I will go and vote at all - I am not undecided about where that vote will go if I did go and vote.
There are academic studies about this phenomenon. Voting, i.e. to actually go out and vote, is not a “cost-less” affair. Each of us who choose to do so bears some cost, but we each weigh that cost differently, depending on our individual lifestyle, obligations, political inclinations, and expectation of the effect of our votes. And in Malaysia, there is also the non-negligible geographical consideration - we do not necessarily live in the area in which we are forced to cast our ballots. For me, it is largely a physiological consideration (see this post). Those who suffer from migraines will understand.
Meanwhile, I’m suffering from a case of BN-overdose. Not only is it in all the newspapers (both the advertisements and the reports, not to mention the overt campaigning in the commentaries and leaders section) and all over town, it is now literally right in front of my house - all around that balding field I mentioned a couple of post ago. Overnight, the BN machinery has surrounded that field with a fence of banners, so glaring and obvious you’d have to be blind to not notice it. If there ever was a reason to induce BN-bulimia, this was it.
Posted on March 20th, 2004 by jl
Filed under: My Malaysia
ahh… me too suffering from BN overdose. in penang, everywhere i go, all i see are BN posters and banners. argghh!! seeing blue everywhere…. feeling blue!
thestar paper, apart from the numerous ads BN placed, have you noticed the metro north section suddenly become the newsletter of BN. every page you read were write-up/news of BN candidates, esp. MCA of course since the star is own by MCA. not only that, but of course also write-up of the BN candidates belittling or condemning the opposition.
i definetely will vote for the opposition. the opposition is needed in parliament to keep a check on the government (as sivarasa.com, the keadilan candidate said in his open letter today).