SABAH POLLS | Similar to organic voter-mobilisation efforts seen during the 14th general election, a group of mainly university students is crowdfunding to help young Sabahans travel home to vote in the Sept 26 state election.

Dubbed #PulangMengundiSabah (Return to Vote Sabah), the campaign is aimed at registered voters between 21 and 35 who earn less than RM3,000 a month.

Those who meet the criteria and want to seek financial assistance can apply by filling in this Google Form by next Friday (Sept 18).

Those seeking to sponsor the effort can contact the initiative through email ([email protected]) or their Facebook and Twitter pages.

According to their social media, donors are provided with receipts once transport tickets are purchased.

The nine behind the initiative include students from Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Universiti Malaya as well as co-founders of 2018’s Pulang Mengundi Mahasiswa (Students Return to Vote) campaign.

“Economic constraints, distance and time constraints ought not to be barriers to participating in the electoral process.

“Seeing that these constraints have limited opportunities for young Sabahans to vote in the state election, we are coming together to help mobilise public donations and invite corporate contributions.

“The support of every Malaysian will be very meaningful to the success of Pulang Mengundi Sabah’s mission,” they said on Facebook.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, group member Zariah Zakaria said the campaign was a non-partisan initiative driven by need.

"We want the youngsters, especially the first-time voters, (to be able to) cast their vote. It's just a very simple objective to help them.

"Because of this pandemic, our friends in Peninsular Malaysia are actually having problems going back to Sabah," she added.

Fellow campaign member D Aaron Denison said they have received 2,800 applications since their Aug 26 launch.

Many requests were from those staying in Peninsular Malaysia, but he noted many were beyond their targeted age group.

The aim is to crowdfund RM10,000.

"We are aware of our capacity, and we are aware of who we appeal to - the young people. Realistically we can only do it for young people.

"We are not saying we do not consider people aged 35 and above, but at the moment we are focusing on people aged between 21 and 35. We also welcome other groups to expand the initiative, we definitely will support and work with them," Aaron told Malaysiakini.

He added that the campaign would be meeting with two local airlines soon to explore potential collaborations.

"Let’s hope for good news," he said.