Chinese voter turnout in Mahkota almost 50%, says Johor DAP chief

Liew Chin Tong cites data from a think tank showing the community’s voter turnout rate at 49%, and not a little over 30% as previously reported.

(FMT) – Johor DAP chairman Liew Chin Tong said the turnout among Chinese voters at the Mahkota by-election on Saturday was higher, at almost 50%, and not slightly over 30% as previously reported.

Liew cited data by think tank Institut Darul Ehsan (IDE), based on all polling stations, showing that the voter turnout rate for the Chinese was at 49%, Indians (48%) and Malays (61%).

“More importantly, almost all Pakatan Harapan core supporters, regardless of ethnicity, gave their full support to Barisan Nasional in this by-election,” he said in a statement.

Previously, FMT quoted a party source as saying the voter turnout for the by-election remained low among Chinese (32%) and Indian voters (34%), while the highest turnout rate (63%) was among Malay voters.

“The ethnic turnout rate estimated by IDE is almost the same as the turnout rate for the Johor state elections in March 2022,” said Liew, who is also the deputy investment, trade and industry minister.

Chinese voters comprise 34% of the 66,318 electorate.

Liew, the Iskandar Puteri MP, also said with 81% Chinese voters, the Bandar Tengah polling station was most representative of the community’s voter turnout.

On average, he said, the voter turnout for Bandar Tengah stood at 49%. However, the average percentage of votes won by Barisan Nasional candidate Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah in each of Bandar Tengah’s six voting streams was 90%.

In comparison, the Kampong Melayu I polling station, which has 95.74% Malay voters, recorded an average turnout of 61% across its five streams.

Liew said the Pakatan Harapan ground campaign team led by Kluang MP Wong Shu Qi knew that it would be difficult to canvass for votes because of various factors, including the spat between Umno’s Dr Akmal Saleh and DAP’s Teresa Kok.

He said PH was confident that with relentless campaigning, they could turn things around and reach about 50% Chinese voter turnout although he was cautioned that the figure would not exceed 55%.