In a statement, Wan Junaidi explained that although Undi18 and AVR had been gazetted, the state polls will only use the voter rolls that had been updated and certified as at Nov 2, before the dissolution of the Sarawak state assembly on Nov 3.

The certification of the voter rolls was done following Regulation 9 of the Election Regulations (Voter Registration) 2002.

“The government would like to assure Sarawakians that this decision was made in line with the legal process, which took into account the Kuching High Court’s ruling, and not due to external pressure from certain parties.

“We have no intention of depriving the 18-year-olds in Sarawak of their voting rights as the state is more than ready to welcome these young voters. I hope that this issue will not be politicised,” Wan Junaidi said.

Sarawak goes to the polls on Dec 18, with nomination day set for Dec 6 and early voting on Dec 14. The electoral roll has 1,252,014 registered voters.

It was reported yesterday that the constitutional amendment to lower the minimum voting age and enforce AVR was gazetted on Nov 25.

The gazette stated that the King appointed Dec 15 as the date on which the Undi18 amendments would come into effect.

Wan Junaidi had previously guaranteed that Undi18 and AVR would be implemented before Dec 31, as Putrajaya could be subject to contempt of court by failing to do so.

The Kuching High Court had on Sept 3 ordered for the lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18 and AVR to be implemented by Dec 31.