KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 — Independent pollster Ilham Centre predicted that there will be low voter turnout on polling day for six state elections tomorrow.

A survey conducted by the think tank found that voters residing outside of the six states, namely Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan, might not return to cast their votes.

"The real ‘war’ is more focused on social media. There is not much response from voters to the local ceramah plus the atmosphere of the campaigns is ‘bland’ and ‘cold’.

"Furthermore, national issues were centred in the campaigns and ceramah, causing local issues to be sidelined. Due to this situation, we predict voter turnout will be lower compared to the previous general election (GE),” said Ilham Centre.

Ilham Centre also said that survey respondents who are voting in Terengganu and Kelantan were comfortable with PAS’ big victory in the previous election.

"They felt that the party could win even if they did not return to their respective states to vote,” it said.

However, Ilham Centre said that the situation could be slightly different in Selangor and Kedah as the tight race between Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional will likely make voters want to participate in the democratic process this time.

The study, which conducted from July 28 to August 8, involved a total of 2,304 respondents, with 48 respondents involved in an in-depth interview that included groups of young people, local leaders and women.

Ilham Centre also said that the data from face-to-face were collected by enumerators using surveys and semi-structured interview protocols.

"The margin of error in this survey is 2 per cent with a confidence level of 95 per cent.

"The quantitative and qualitative data collection process covers all six states with a stratified random sampling method covering all age levels, ethnicities, household groups, education levels, occupations and different localities.

"The research data was analysed quantitatively and qualitatively thematically,” said Ilham Centre.