Wan Junaidi said there have been discussions with the Election Commission (EC) but it remained a challenge to introduce compulsory voting.

“While compulsory voting could be implemented in urban areas, there would be many obstacles and difficulties to do so in rural areas due to the lack of infrastructure,” he told the Dewan Rakyat.

He said a lack of voting facilities in rural areas was another obstacle.

He was responding to a question from Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (PN-Pasir Mas), who asked if the government intended to introduce compulsory voting in elections and penalise those who fail to vote.

Wan Junaidi said while the intention to implement compulsory voting to address low voter turnout was justified, it could have a detrimental effect on the practice of democracy in the country.

In March, former EC chairman Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman suggested compulsory voting in view of the low voter turnout in the Johor state election.

He noted that it would require plenty of work to amend the laws on the electoral process but said he was confident it could be done.

Low voter turnouts had also occurred at the Melaka and Sarawak state elections late last year.

Wan Junaidi said further discussions were required with the EC but added that the government was looking at more feasible solutions.

He said Putrajaya would start by introducing more content on the electoral process in the education syllabus. Several ministries and agencies would also be conducting programmes and roadshows to educate the public, and especially youths, on voting.

The call for compulsory voting follows major changes to election laws three years ago.

In July 2019, the Dewan Rakyat passed an amendment to the Federal Constitution to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 and allow for automatic registration of voters. The new law came into force in December last year.