In six of the 13 states, you can contest for a state assembly seat, but you still can’t vote.
This situation has arisen because while laws to allow 18-year-olds to stand for election and vote have been passed and gazetted, some have not been implemented.
The most important one not implemented is the right to vote, according to former Election Commission (EC) chairman Azhar Azizan Harun, who is now the Dewan Rakyat speaker.
Checks by FMT on the state constitutions across the country also showed that the age limit for candidacy has been brought down only in six states.
Perlis, Perak, Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak have amended their state constitutions to allow those at least 18 to stand as candidates, while six other states have yet to do so.
Azhar said while the Federal Constitution has been amended to allow those above 18 to stand as parliamentary candidates, vote and also to be automatically registered as voters, it could only happen if the laws were enforced.
“Only the amendment on the qualifying age to be an MP, which was lowered from 21 to 18, was to take effect immediately. The other two amendments – lowering the voting age to 18 and for automatic registration – are to be enforced together at a date to be fixed later,” he said.
Last year, de facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan told Parliament the registration of 18-year-olds as voters and automatic registration for them would commence in July this year.
In a written reply, he said the process would take two years from July 25, 2019 – the date the Dewan Negara approved the constitutional amendment to allow the lowering of the voting age.
The amendment enjoyed bipartisan support in both houses of Parliament.
The government had said this would allow 7.8 million more voters in the next general election, bringing the total number of eligible voters to 22.7 million, compared with 14.9 million in the 14th general election.
Takiyuddin said several subsidiary laws related to the EC were also being amended, especially the Elections (Registration of Electors) Regulations 2002 and other related procedures that were being put in place.
Meanwhile, an EC official who did not want to be named said while the lowering of the age of voters to 18 is certain, the problem remains with the automatic registration component, which is being ironed out.
To allow automatic registration, the official said, the EC is following addresses provided under the National Registration Department’s MyKad database.
“If the address is a general address – that is, if there is no proper block, street address – we would be unable to determine the voter’s locality.
“Another issue is ensuring that all voters’ names are included in the electoral roll. If a person’s name is missing, they can seek a court order to nullify the election results.
“So, to prevent any untoward situation, we must ensure that these problems are resolved before we can enforce it.”
The official said another issue of concern is the states. With only a handful amending their constitutions to allow those 18 and above to be a member of the state legislative assembly, it would hamper efforts to allow the youths to be in politics.
“While registration of voters comes under federal powers, the lowering of the age to be a state assembly candidate depends on the state constitution,” the official said.
Strangely, it is the more liberal and urban centres like Penang, Selangor and Johor that have yet to amend their constitutions to allow those 18 and above to be candidates.
The EC official went on to say even if all the matters are sorted out, especially automatic registration, the ball is in the law minister’s court, as only the government has the power to enforce the lower voting age.
“SPR (EC) has no authority to gazette it. It is the government, which has to do it through the Federal Gazette.”
In many other countries, both the voting and candidacy age have been lowered to 18. The German embassy in Kuala Lumpur said the age limit in their country was lowered in 1972.
When contacted, EC deputy chairman Azmi Shahrom said voting for 18-year-olds has yet to be enforced due to the automatic registration of voter feature, which was supposed to be done concurrently.
“For this to happen, EC needs time to put all the necessary measures in place. EC has stated that we will be ready by July 2021. I presume the necessary gazetting will occur then.
“There will be a need to amend some Acts to ensure 18-year-olds are voters and automatic registration would be done properly,” he said.
Azmi also confirmed that 18-year-olds can stand in parliamentary seats and only certain state seats where their constitution has been amended accordingly.