Lower voting age bill - all 211 MPs present give nod
PARLIAMENT | The Dewan Rakyat has passed a bill to amend the Federal Constitution to lower the voting age to 18.
The bill was passed by a vote of 211. There were no abstentions or nays.
PARLIAMENT | The Dewan Rakyat has passed a bill to amend the Federal Constitution to lower the voting age to 18.
The bill was passed by a vote of 211. There were no abstentions or nays.
This is the first time the Federal Constitution has been amended since the Abdullah Ahmad Badawi administration.
A total of 59 MPs participated in the five-hour debate during the bill's second reading.
Besides lowering the voting age, the bill also permits automatic voter registration and the lowering of the minimum age for elected representatives to 18.
This is the second attempt by the Pakatan Harapan government to amend the Federal Constitution.
The administration had failed in its first attempt to amend the constitution, which involved restoring the status of Sabah and Sarawak as equals with Peninsular Malaysia, on April 9.
During his winding-up speech for the bill’s second reading, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government does not propose to compel the voters to cast their ballots.
"Preliminary research has found that the countries which implement compulsory voting did not record a 100-percent voter turnout rate," he said.
The highest turnout rate was recorded by Singapore (93.56 percent), followed by Australia (91.89 percent), Belgium (88.2 percent), and Austria (80 percent), according to the 94-year-old.
Mahathir also admitted that Putrajaya had not consulted the state government about lowering the minimum age for state assemblypersons to 18.
"But we are confident that we will have the support of the state government, as this will give an opportunity to the youth to take part in the poll," he said.
Mahathir also addressed requests from lawmakers for the government to clean up the electoral roll before implementing automatic voter registration.
Various parties have highlighted existing problems with the electoral roll, which includes missing, incomplete and obsolete voter addresses.
"The government will scrutinise the matter with the relevant agencies to resolve the addresses issue, which we need to take into consideration before the full implementation of automatic voter registration," he said.
Mahathir also said the government will also study the need to allow voters to cast their ballots as early voters.
"This will involved amending Clause 27A of the Election (Conduct of Elections) Regulations 1981. We need to look at the best options before considering the proposal," he said.
'A new era'
Mahathir expressed happiness when he spoke with the press later at the Parliament lobby.
"I have been (here) quite long in Parliament but this is the first time a bill has passed unanimously, where no one rejected it. This is a new era, in which the opposition recognises the good deeds of the government," he said.
"This is a historical day and it has never happened before," he said.
There is no need for the constitutional bill to be passed in the Senate House, he said.
