Undi18 to come into force Dec 15, but might still be too late for S'wak
The government has finally set a date for the implementation of Undi18 - Dec 15, according to a gazette signed by chief secretary to the government Mohd Zuki Ali.
With automatic voter registration (AVR), this means that anyone above the age of 18 that day will officially be a voter.
The date of effect comes three days before polling in the Sarawak state election on Dec 18.
However, it is unclear whether 18 to 20 year olds...
The government has finally set a date for the implementation of Undi18 - Dec 15, according to a gazette signed by Chief Secretary to the Government Mohd Zuki Ali on Nov 25 and published today.
With automatic voter registration (AVR), this means that anyone above the age of 18 that day will officially be a voter.
The date of effect comes three days before polling in the Sarawak election on Dec 18.
However, it is unclear whether 18 to 20-year-olds will be allowed to vote in the state election.
This is as an election will usually use an electoral roll that is in effect before nomination day.
'Youth must exercise new rights'
Qyira Yusri, the co-founder of the Undi18 movement that advocated for lowering the voting age, said the youth must seize and make use of their newly gained rights.
"I’m very glad to see this finally happening. It took youths campaigning, protesting and even going to court to have young people be given the right to vote.
"If elections are called in 2022, it is now more important than ever for the Malaysian youth to exercise their new rights and vote for politicians they want to have in power," she told Malaysiakini.
The constitutional amendment to lower the voting age was passed in Parliament in 2019.
However, its implementation was postponed due to delays in coming up with an AVR system.
The Election Commission had initially wanted to push implementation to September next year, blaming the Covid-19 pandemic for slowing work down.
This delay was challenged in court, with the Kuching High Court ruling that the government must lower the voting age by Dec 31.
The government acquiesced with the ruling but had dithered on an exact date for implementation.
There were high hopes that 18-year-olds would be allowed to vote in the Sarawak state polls - which were originally due to be held in 2022 thanks to a localised state of emergency.
However, the emergency was lifted on Nov 3 - a move that effectively squashed hopes of Undi18 coming into force in time.
Critics claimed that the interim GPS-led state government had sought to lift the emergency early in order to avoid youth votes.
