The proposal to lower voting age from 21 years to 18 and automatic voter registration were principally agreed by political parties from both divides today. The Election Commission (EC) chairman, Azhar Azizan Harun said 32 parties out 52 registered political parties in the country, had unanimously agreed to both proposals. The EC had earlier called the 32 political parties today for a closed-door meeting to discuss issues pertaining to voter registration. “There was no objection to the voting age limit from the political parties. “However there were several suggestions for the need for more data such as address and telephone numbers for the automatic registration,” he told reporters after the meeting at the EC headquarters here today.
For the automatic registration, although it had been agreed, the policy and the process had to be fully understood before implementation, which would take some time, Azhar said.
“For the voting age limit, we are now waiting for the constitutional amendment after it is brought to the cabinet,” he said.
In June, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had supported the proposal to lower the voting age from 21 to 18.
Dr Mahathir agreed to it because he was of the opinion that Malaysians nowadays were knowledgeable and those in their 18 could make a wise decision about their country’s future.