The changing electoral landscape

This article was written some time ago.

Photo courtesy of Go Gravy!

By the 2011 General Elections, part of the senior citizen group who have voted previously during the 2006 General Elections would have passed on, but at the same time, new faces will join the electorate when they reach the eligible age to vote. Thus, it is a self-renewal process per se.

It will be interesting to see how these virgin voters would respond. Some time ago, a survey conducted by the Singapore Polytechnic revealed that more than 50% of youths aged between 15 and 29 years want to migrate overseas if given the chance. And 37% admitted that they are not patriotic. However, 60% of the youths are not interested in local politics, but half of those polled would like to see more opposition in parliament.

For the youths who wish to migrate overseas if given the chance, the attitude they could adopt towards the elections can range from nonchalant and apathetic to passionately responsive.

The nonchalant and apathetic ones will probably treat Polling Day as another holiday, and no one knows how they would vote. The voting patterns can range from not even turning up and vote, to making random votes. If a voter fails to turn up for elections, the Registration Officer will strike off the former’s name from the certified register of electors. Of course, we cannot disregard the ‘rebellious’ streak even among the nonchalant ones, and don’t be surprised if they vote against status quo.

For the passionately responsive ones, they perhaps see the elections as a platform to make their voices known about the changes they want to see in Singapore, even though they harbor intentions of migrating. There youths tend to be better informed about the developments in Singapore and the destinations they wish to settle down in. Obviously, they tend to compare Singapore to other greener pastures, using the latter as a benchmark. Hence, they are the ones who really want to see changes in Singapore, especially those that will bring Singapore closer to the standards of their ideal destinations. Thus, they are likely to vote for changes.

Even as 60% declared their disinterest in local politics, a surprising half desired more opposition in parliament, which raises the question whether our political scene does not appeal or other factors may have contributed to their lack of interest, such as the one-party rule that is our political reality that they take for granted. However, the fact that half wanted more opposition in parliament would have come as a comforting fact to the current opposition.

In this renewal process, it will be interesting to observe its impact on the outcome of the elections. Is it enough to tilt the political balance between the PAP and opposition, no one knows for sure.