JOHOR BARU: There is no telling how the young voters, estimated to be 175,000 of them aged between 18 and 20, will make their choice in the Johor state election known following the implementation of Undi18.

       With 6% of the 2.5 million voters in this election hailing from the Undi18 segment, the parties are not taking any chances and are banking on their young and fresh-faced candidates to attract them.

       A total of 60 out of the 239 candidates vying for a place in the 56-seat state assembly are those below the age of 40.

       Among them are two of the youngest candidates in the election –Mengkibol MCA candidate Kelly Chye Pei Yee and Parti Pejuang Tanah Air candidate for the Tangkak seat Muhammad Airel Zabrihin, who are both 26.

       The trend of fielding political novices in an election is not without its own challenges.

       The absence of a track record can be a disadvantage that may be used against them by senior politicians.

       These young candidates and their supporting teams need to work harder to convince voters that they can do the job despite being greenhorns.

       Universiti Teknologi Malaysia political analyst Dr Mazlan Ali said that the candidate’s age was not a major deciding factor in this election.

       “The more important thing that voters look into are the profiles of the candidates and which parties they are from.

       “More well-known parties from Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan may get more attention as people are more familiar with them, while parties that are contesting in Johor for the first time may have a harder time,” he said.

       He noted that in the Melaka election, about half of the candidates were young leaders below 40 but they still failed to secure seats.

       “The youngest candidate, a 21-year-old, also lost in Melaka,” he said.