PUTRAJAYA will table a fresh bill to amend the federal constitution to lower the voting age to 18 tomorrow, after the previous bill was withdrawn.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the first reading of the bill did not take into account automatic registrations and the provisions for an election candidate.

“In the first reading, we did not include whether a voter’s name will be included automatically or whether they will have to register.

“The next one was (with regard) to election candidates,” Dr Mahathir told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

The opposition has given its commitment to support the bill once the two provisions are included, he said.

Earlier today, Dr Mahathir held a briefing for opposition members on the amendments to be made to the bill.

He added that he is confident of garnering a two-thirds majority for the bill.

“We are confident… they’re not going to lie to us,” he said in jest, referring to the opposition.

The bill, which calls for constitutional amendments, will need the support of at least two-thirds of lawmakers. The ruling Pakatan Harapan and its Sabah allies are nine short of the 148 votes required.

The bill was tabled for first reading by Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman on Thursday.

The opposition has pledged support for the revised bill.

“As a representative of the opposition bloc, I thank Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who received the suggestions from the opposition,” said opposition leader Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

“It was agreed that not only shall the voting age be lowered to 18, but there will also be automatic voter registration, and the minimum age for election candidates (for parliamentary seats) will be lowered to 18 as well.” – July 10, 2019.