IT is embarrassing that Malaysia has yet to implement Undi18 when an autocratic country like Myanmar has already enforced it, the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) told Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in a 15-point memorandum.

The minimum voting age in Myanmar, which is currently seeing a political crisis as a result of military coup, is 18 years old.

Muda has proposed a middle-ground solution, including allowing 18-year-olds to register themselves as voters like existing voters.

“If the Election Commission is too burdened with bureaucracy and outdated data management technology, then 18-year-olds should be at least allowed to vote in the same way as existing voters,” the youth movement said.

Muda is proposing for the process and the voter registration mechanism, which were used for decades, to be implemented in Undi18.

The proposal can be implemented immediately and it only requires additional allocation from the government, it added.

The EC said on March 25 that it had decided to postpone the implementation of the minimum voting age to 18, and the automatic registration for voters, to September next year.

EC chairman Abdul Ghani Salleh said the implementation of the two measures had been affected by the movement-control order imposed to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.

He, however, said preparations for the two measures are ongoing.

The youth-led party said these are small bureaucratic matters that can be solved with the use of technology.

“There is no use in us talking about industrial revolution 4.0, big data or announcing the Malaysia digital economy blueprint if a small issue like this cannot be solved,” Muda said.

The party said the move also runs counter with previous statements by de-factor law minister Takiyuddin Hassan and deputy EC chief Dr Azmi Sharom who said the automatic voter registration system can be ready by mid-2021.

It said that with this, the government will be seen as providing room and opportunity for youths to be a part of the democratic process, in line with the constitutional amendment that was unanimously supported by all lawmakers including the prime minister himself.

“If the middle ground is implemented immediately, it will prevent the government from being linked to shallow excuses given for the delays,” they said.

Muda said as a movement led by the youth, it is ready to support any decisions by the government that will be useful to the people. – April 7, 2021.