Election Commission (EC) deputy chairman Azmi Sharom said even though the Dewan Rakyat had passed the bill to amend the Federal Constitution to lower the voting age to 18 in July, it does not mean they can register as voters right away.

This is because the EC needs time to set up the automatic voter registration system, he said on Bernama News Channel today.

“The automatic registration will be implemented within a year-and-a half, maybe two years,” he said.

Azmi said the two-year period would also be necessary as the EC needs to prepare for the millions of additional voters, ensure sufficient polling centres and channels, as well as buy more ballot boxes and train more EC officials.

He said the turnout in the next general election is expected to reach over 22 million, compared with 14.9 million in the last general election in 2018.

In addition to lowering the voting age from 21 to 18, the amendments also sought to lower the eligible age of electoral candidates to 18, and to enable automatic registration of voters by the EC.