THE Election Commission (EC) and the National Registration Department (NRD) must state if they have hit obstacles in the implementation of Undi 18, the law which saw the voting age lowered to 18 in Malaysia, said Bersih 2.0.

The electoral watchdog said that it was crucial that both the entities clarify if there is already a voters list since Undi 18 was passed in Parliament 19 months ago.

Bersih 2.0 chairman Thomas Fann said there must be an explanation if the NRD, as the custodian of the national registry of citizens, cannot produce such a list, and the EC cannot assign them since the bill was passed.

“The NRD and the EC must explain if such claims are true,” Fann said.

“If the claims are true, there should be a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate NRD’s database and for the EC members to resign over this failure to deliver on a key voting rights constitutional amendment.”

Putrajaya’s bid to amend the federal constitution to lower the voting age to 18 was met with resounding success with unanimous backing from the opposition bloc and government backbenchers.

The bill, which also includes automatic voter registration and allowing 18-year-olds to contest in elections created history for the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration when it was in power as it was the first successful constitutional amendment that received support from both sides of the political divide.

However, last week, Dewan Negara Speaker Rais Yatim said it was not practical to lower the voting age to 18 for now because of the time-consuming obstructions facing the agencies implementing the law.

He said it would take time to come up with the list of 18-year-olds eligible to vote and the constituencies they come from, adding this would take up the resources of both the NRD and the EC.

“On the issue of 18-year-olds voting, whether we can implement it now, the answer is no. Although it has been passed in terms of the legislature, in terms of readiness there are many gaps,” Rais had said.

Fann, however, said if Rais’ claims are false, Bersih 2.0 calls on the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government to vigorously deny his claims and commit anew to implementing Undi18, a law they themselves voted for.

“Failing to commit (to the implementation), all voters should electorally punish the PN government (at the 15th general election) for denying young people their fundamental right to vote.”

Clarification needed on Undi 18

Undi18 co-founder Qyira Yusri, meanwhile said Putrajaya should clarify the implementation of lowering the voting age and whether the automatic voter registration (AVR) is on track for July, as promised by the administration.

“We disagree with Rais that it was done in a rush, as this clearly received the support of every member of the Parliament… and Dewan Negara.

“There is no reason for the delay. More importantly, this begs the question of whether Rais’ statement is representative of the government or not.”

She added that the unemployment rate for Malaysian youth is recorded at 13.2% in December 2020, the highest it’s ever been.

“Malaysian youth deserve the right to elect their government, this includes the 7.8 million new voters that will be enfranchised after the Undi18 bill is gazetted.”

On Sunday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Takiyuddin Hassan said the implementation of Undi 18 is under the purview of the Election Commission.

Takiyuddin, who is also Kota Baru MP, said any developments on the matter should come from the EC, adding it is an independent body and it is fully in charge of the matter.  – March 16, 2021.