THE government will allow automatic registration of eligible voters, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced this evening.

“We agree to lower the age of voting to 18 years old and they will be registered automatically,” Mahathir said after a Pakatan Harapan council meeting in Putrajaya.

Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman last week tabled the bill to amend the federal constitution to lower the voting age to 18 from 21.

The motion was supported by Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Hanipa Maidin.

Debate over the bill is expected to take place on July 16.

If passed by two-thirds of parliament, the bill will pave the way for almost four million young people to participate in the next state and federal elections.

PH had pledged to lower the voting age in its 2018 election manifesto.

The opposition had made its support for the amendment conditional, asking for automatic registration of those reaching 18 if PH wanted its support.

As a proposed constitutional amendment, the bill will require a two-thirds majority or 148 votes to pass.

There are 222 seats in Parliament and Pakatan Harapan has 139 MPs, while the Opposition counts 77 lawmakers among its ranks. – July 8, 2019.

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