Voting Behaviour PAD270

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Generally, Malaysia is a democratic country where it is must to do election thus people can
choose their representative to represent their need at the higher level. In democracy, a
parliamentary democracy holds an electoral process that empowers the political party that
wins the largest number of seats in a general election to rule the country. Those there four
factors that influence in voting behavior such as candidates factors, political parties,
propaganda and media influence.
First and foremost, the first factors that influence voting behavior is candidate factors. The
strength and personality of the candidate is a determining factor because the candidate is
chosen by the voters. The candidate factor is an important entity in shaping the behavior of
voters. The voting trend is to vote for a people -oriented candidate every election where they
are more confident that the candidate can change their lives. Voter loyalty to a people
-oriented candidate causes voters to choose the same candidate in every election. For
example, the most serving prime minister in Malaysia is Tun Dr. Mahathir. He held the post
for 22 years from 1981 to 2003. However, he became prime minister again in 2018 after
winning the 14th General Election. This shows that society is more likely to vote for
candidates who have a lot of influence in administrating.
Next, the second factors that influence voting behavior is political parties. Political parties
are an important factor in shaping their voting behavior. Voters join political parties to gain
interests and rewards. In addition, voters also vote for the party because of their faith in the
political party and even involved in hoisting party flags during the election campaign. The
image of the contesting party is also an important factor in analyzing voter behavior. For
example, most voters join the existing political party, namely BN, and PKR while the rest do
not join any political party. Most senior citizens and rural people vote for parties that fight for
the interests of rural communities and take care of welfare as an option for voters. Voters
understand the situation of those who still need development and basic facilities in the
village.
Furthermore, the next factors are propaganda factor. The propaganda factor explains the
issues brought up by candidates during elections to attract voters. Propaganda is also one of
the important strategies in the political arena and the role of propaganda will be clearer
during elections. The issues that are often propagated are the issue of rising prices of goods
and oil next and customary land rights. Not only that, the issue of facilities in rural areas is
also has been used. Such issues are often used in rural areas because they are synonymous
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with the lack of relatively backward basic facilities. In addition, the issue of rising prices of
goods is most popular among people due to the rising cost of living coupled with rising prices
of basic necessities.
Last but not least, the last factor is media influence. The media plays an important role in
conveying information to the general public and the government. The use of mass media in
urban and rural areas is different and mass media affects voters based on the information
received. In Malaysia, there are two types of mass media, namely print media and electronic
media. However, the mass media most widely used by the outside community to obtain
political information are television and radio. The use of mass media such as newspapers and
the internet are not popular among rural area voters due to the lack of facilities in internet and
education. in contrast to urban society where in the city the media plays an important role.
However, in this modern era, both urban and rural have access to internet services easily.
Most people nowadays get political issues through the internet. In fact, the candidate's social
interaction in social media also plays a role such as the example of politician Syed Saddiq
gets a lot of support especially from youths because he is active in social media such as
Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Tiktok.Those social media plays a role in voting behavior.
In conclusion, citizens need to understand all the factors that can influence their vote. This is
important because each vote is valuable for Malaysia's future.

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