EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLDS won’t be able to vote if snap elections are called this year as the system is not ready yet, said the Election Commission.

Voting for 18-year-olds has to go hand-in-hand with the automatic voter registration system and this is only expected to be ready by the middle of next year, said EC chairman Azhar Azizan Harun.

“The Undi-18 initiative must run parallel with (the) automatic voter registration. We are still building the system and infrastructure for this,” Azhar told The Malaysian Insight.

“Our conservative estimate is that we will be ready by the middle of next year. But we are working hard to get it ready earlier.”

Pakatan Harapan lowered the voting age to 18 during its 22-month tenure while ensuring that those who come of age are automatically registered to vote.

The issue of whether 18-year-olds can vote has cropped up now that it is possible that Malaysians will have to return to the ballot box less than two years after the 14th general election in May 2018.

This is because the new government under Muhyiddin Yassin may not have the necessary backing of a majority of MPs in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat.

Muhyiddin, who was a member of the PH administration, left the coalition together with 36 MPs and triggered the government’s collapse.

He later formed a government with the support of Umno, PAS, Sabah parties and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).

PH said over the weekend that its candidate for prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has the support of 114 MPs.

PH is expected to file a motion of no-confidence in the earliest parliamentary sitting scheduled for March 9 to test which side controls the lower house.

If Muhyiddin cannot prove that he has a majority in the Dewan Rakyat, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may have to appoint Dr Mahathir as the new prime minister or dissolve Parliament for snap elections.

Muhyiddin’s allies in PAS, such as Hashim Jasin, are urging snap elections to settle the dispute of which coalition has a clear majority in the Dewan Rakyat.

Azhar told The Malaysian Insight the commission is ready to organise another general election at a moment’s notice.

“We are on alert to cater for any eventuality. It is only prudent to do so. Under the federal constitution, we need to hold an election and announce its results within 60 days after Parliament is dissolved.”

Once that occurs, the EC will meet no less than four days and no more than seven days to plan its operations and set all important dates for the polls.

“This meeting is when we will issue the writ for an election, set the dates for nomination, polling, early voting and appoint all returning officers.”

If GE15 is called, EC will need to spend between RM750 million and RM800 million to hold the elections and implement all the improvements made to the voting process.

This includes opening up more polling centres and voting channels, and to build more facilities for disabled voters.

“We also want to provide wheelchairs, a free shuttle service and dedicated voting channels for the disabled,” Azhar said.

GE14 cost RM500 million and the amount included appointing 259,443 temporary election staff members, including 222 returning officers and 29,054 polling centre chiefs.

More than 8,800 polling centres with 29,054 voting channels were opened to allow 14.95 million voters to cast their ballots. – March 3, 2020.