Ever since the new millennium, registration rates and voter turnouts for the general elections among Malaysian youths between the age range of 21 and 22 years have been low and dismaying, particularly so in non-urban locations. With the number of youths forming a significant percentage of Malaysia’s population, targeting eligible youths for the various political parties is imperative in winning the elections. Furthermore, youth participation and engagement in national politics have been impactful in the direction and development of Malaysia’s government and administration. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify the influence factors on the intention to vote in the next general election among youths in rural areas. Through a quantitative design, a cross-sectional survey using questionnaires was employed. Identifying the units of analysis was through stratified sampling method to collect the data. Also, the focus of this case study was limited to youths living in the district of Mersing, Johor. From a sample size of 400 (n=400), the returned rate was 370 or 92.5%. There are significant relationship between the factors of youth’s to vote in next general election which is awareness, persuading method, spatial representation, and political vote choice where p-value is less than 0.05 and most influence factor is awareness. This study also found the significant of moderating role of gender on the relationship of influence factors towards the intention of youth to vote in next general election. This study help in contribute clear knowledge in term of politics and academic in acknowledge the important role of the youth in the decision making process in the country through election process.
Keywords: Youth, politics, voting, participation
