Political parties should focus on registering youths between the ages of 21 and 25 first before making any proposal to lower the voting age to 18, Parti Pesaka Pumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Youth information chief Abdul Aziz Adenan said.

He said there were millions of unregistered voters among that particular age group even though the current minimum voting age was 21.

As such the issue of bringing these youths to realise the importance of exercising their rights through the ballot boxes would have to be addressed first, he said.

"(This) is quite challenging, especially for the present generation, who are bombarded with e-mails, Facebook posts and websites, with information (that are) mainly political propaganda from both sides of the fence, either directly or subtly," he said.

He was met at the Aidilfitri open house of State Minister with Special Functions Adenan Satem, Santubong today.

Automatic registration

Abdul Aziz said there was also a need to look into the extent of political maturity of such voters in terms of knowledge and responsibility to make the best voting choice.

Deputy Higher Education Minister Saifuddin Abdullah had said recently that a road map needed to be instituted to enable Malaysians reaching the age of 21 to be automatically registered as electors.

Saifuddin had also said that he was in favour of lowering the voting age to 18 so that 18-year-olds could also be included in the automatic registration.

- Bernama