Voting at 18: are Malaysian young voters ready to vote?
List of Authors
  • Kuah Yoke Chin , Wan Rozima Mior Ahmed Shahimi

Keyword
  • Young Voter, Government, Malaysia, Election

Abstract
  • According to the Malaysian Electoral Commission (2018), young voters are said to be the majority of voters in Malaysia in the future. This expectation is as a result of the amendments to the Federal Constitution allowing 18-year-olds to vote in the upcoming elections. However, there is a concern whether the young people in Malaysia are ready to vote at a very young age. Hence, this study examines whether the young voters are ready to vote at the age of 18. Secondly, this study analyses the factors influencing the maturity of young voters to vote. For these purposes, the unit of analysis was identified through the simple random sampling techniques. Based on the PLS-SEM method, the results indicated that the family factors and the attitude of respondents had negative significant relationship towards the readiness of Gen Z to vote at the age of 18. Meanwhile, social media, knowledge and peer factors cannot be the factors to influence the Gen Z to vote. In conclusion, democratic sovereignty rests on the shoulders of the younger generation who play an important role in ensuring the well-being and security of the nation.

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