Will young voters show up again for another 'Green Wave'?

ANALYSIS | Siti (not her real name) voted for the first time last year in the 15th general election which recorded a high turnout rate for her age group.

Buoyed by the excitement surrounding the election, which marked the first time 18-year-olds and previously unregistered voters could vote, she eagerly went with her adoptive family to cast her vote.

Siti, 25, who lives in Selangor, is not feeling the same excitement this time around, unsure whether she will go to the polling centre.

“It depends on if I have the time,” she told Bernama, saying her recent employment at a restaurant usually leaves her feeling tired the next morning.

Youth voters have never been considered reliable voters in other democracies but the voter turnout for Malaysians aged between 18 and 30 in GE15 was a surprising and robust 75.6 percent, according to an analysis by political expert Bridget Welsh. It almost matched the turnout among the 41- to 50-year-old group.

During GE15, there was much excitement surrounding the youth vote. Political events and social media platforms, especially TikTok, targeted them, while many news reports and analyses called...