Judicial commissioner Alexander Siew dismissed the leave application by Avril Clarice Chin Ning, 18, Ivan Alexander Ong, 19, and Addam Johanson Jeremy Shayne, 19, to initiate the legal challenge to question the government’s decision to use the electoral roll notice gazetted in the second quarter of the year.

The court ruled that the trio had failed to satisfy the threshold to obtain leave on commencing a judicial review.

No order was made on costs.

The trio had claimed that by using the electoral roll notice, the government had deprived them of their voting rights.

“The electoral roll notice ought to be quashed for depriving us and other like citizens of their right to vote in the state election,” they said.

The trio was represented by Simon Siah and Clarice Chan, while senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi and Azizan Md Arshad appeared for EC.

Previously, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had fixed Dec 15 as the date of effect of the amendment to Section 3 of the Constitution (Amendment) Act 2019, which reduced the voting age from 21 to 18.

With the Undi18 constitutional amendment taking effect on Wednesday, those who have reached 18 years old are automatically included in the electoral roll.

Law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has confirmed that Undi18 and automatic voter registration would be implemented before Dec 31, as Putrajaya could be subject to contempt of court if it failed to do so.

Siew, who earlier presided in a similar case filed by several Sarawakian youths in challenging the government’s refusal to execute the amendments, ordered the federal government to implement the Undi18 amendments by Dec 31.