KUALA LUMPUR: A think-tank's analysis of Saturday's Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election results found that Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) command the support of those aged 41 and above.
The analysis, by Institut Darul Ehsan (IDE) also found that Perikatan Nasional (PN) commands the votes of those under 40.
In a statement, IDE said PN still commands support from Malay voters, with the opposition coalition winning 56 per cent of the Malay vote compared to the 42 per cent of votes garnered by PH-BN from the community.
However, IDE senior research manager Khairul Arifin Mohd Munir said PH-BN managed to increase their support among the Malay community by three per cent compared to last year's state election.
"PH retained the support from the Chinese and there was increased (eight per cent) support for PH from the Indian community.
On Saturday, Pang Sock Tao of DAP, retained the Kuala Kubu Baharu seat for PH with a majority of 3,869 votes in a four-cornered fight against Khairul Azhari Saut (PN), Hafizah Zainuddin (Parti Rakyat Malaysia) and Nyau Ke Xin (Independent).
In last year's state election, the previous incumbent, Lee Kee Hiong won the seat in a four-cornered fight with a 4,119 vote majority. Lee passed away in March, triggering the by-election.
On the voting trend by age, Khairul said the unity government must draw up a strategy to win over younger voters.
He noted however that many young voters did not turn up to cast their ballot with less than 55 per cent of the demographic coming out to vote.
Around 53 per cent of voters aged 18 to 24 voted on Saturday, while 60 per cent of those above the age of 41 came out to vote.
Khairul said he believed many voters, especially younger ones, were not keen to participate in the by-elections and this was the likely explanation for the low voter turnout.
Initially, the Election Commission set a target of a 75 per cent voter turnout but later revised this figure downwards.
In the end, only 61.5 per cent of people came out to vote. By ethnicity 63 per cent of Malays and Chinese voters voted, while only 57 per cent of Indians cast their vote.
"A total of 38.5 per cent or 15,480 people chose to abstain from voting. Efforts must be made to raise awareness on the importance of voting."
