Polling On A Wednesday: Malaysians Respond In The Most Positive Way Through #CarpoolGE14
Malaysians are working together to ensure that voters are back home to cast their ballots.
By Tang Ruxyn — 11 Apr 2018, 12:45 PM
By now you probably already know that Malaysia's 14th General Election (GE14) will be on 9 May, which falls on a Wednesday
Following the announcement by the Election Commission yesterday, 10 April, there has been criticism on why a working day was picked as polling day.
Electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 said in a statement that the mid-week voting could possibly result in low voter turnout and further hardship for all voters.
In wake of the public outcry, Barisan Nasional (BN) strategist Eric See-To defended the EC's decision to set polling on Wednesday, saying that it is fair to all.
"While I do not speak for the EC, I can understand that there is merit in selecting Wednesday as they may deem this to be fair to all states and not allow results and turn-out rates to be consistent throughout Malaysia and not be skewed in certain states," he said in a statement yesterday, as reported by The Star.
While it may be a challenge if no public holiday is declared for 9 May, Malaysians are undeterred and have united to send a message to all voters: "Go home to vote"
Twitter users @nizambakeri and @AnnieVeeee have quickly initiated the #CarpoolGE14 campaign to get Malaysians to return to their hometown to cast their ballots during GE14, regardless of who they are voting for.
The account @CarpoolGE14 was created in an effort to help voters make their travel plans for the polling day, facilitating them in their process to find their "GE road trip buddies" while they 'balik kampung' to vote.
Drivers who intend to travel back and have empty seats in their car have been urged to join this initiative, so that other Malaysians who are in need of transportation to go home could benefit from them.
Malaysians have quickly heeded the #CarpoolGE14 call, offering rides (some even for free!) to commuters who need them
Aside from #CarpoolGE14, there is also similar initiative known as #JomBalikUndi.
This initiative is targeted at Malaysian voters in Johor or Singapore who need to travel back to vote.
The #JomBalikUndi campaign first started in the last general election by Global BERSIH to mobilise Malaysians to exercise their right to vote.
This time around for GE14, the group behind #JomBalikUndi is organising the same initiative and it has created an online platform to pair up drivers with empty seats with passengers that need them.
Global BERSIH has reportedly estimated that there are about half a million of Malaysians living in Singapore at this time.
Well done, fellow Malaysians for stepping up so quickly to ensure that everyone has a chance to exercise their democratic right to vote!
