SEREMBAN: Voter fatigue from too much politicking and bad weather may have deterred more people from going out to vote in the state elections, former Rembau member of Parliament Khairy Jamaluddin said.
The former health minister and sacked Umno leader listed out these factors which may have impacted the percentage of the voter turnout in Negri Sembilan and five other states in the country.
Khairy nevertheless stressed that it was important for the people to go out and vote in the polls although the the state elections will not affect the government at the federal level.
"There are too many elections, the people have grown tired of politics (in the country).
"Having said that, these elections are important to determine the direction of the state governments in states involved in the polls.
"Actually, it is the state government that the people will turn to raise and resolve their predicaments. In comparison to the federal administration, the people have more things to deal with the respective state governments," he told reporters here today.
Khairy was asked to comment on the low voter turnout registered in the six states involved in the polls.
The Election Commission (EC) said of the six states, only Terengganu recorded a voter turnout of 50 per cent as at 1pm today.
The percentage of voter turnout in Kedah, Penang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan were still below 50 per cent mark, with Kelantan recording the lowest percentage of voter turnout at 40 per cent.