KUALA LUMPUR – The youth-led Muda has sent a memorandum to Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, urging the government to go back to decades-old methods of voter registration to expedite the implementation of Undi18.
The proposal is among a few solutions suggested to reach a “middle ground” with the government on enacting the lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18, which has been postponed by the Election Commission (EC), despite it having been approved by Parliament, on the grounds of technical issues faced over automatic voter registration.
“This proposal can be implemented immediately and does not require any additional allocation from the government,” Muda said in the 15-point memorandum dated April 5.
“With this, the government will be seen as providing space and opportunity for young people to be part of the country’s democratic process, in line with what has been agreed with almost all MPs, including YAB Tan Sri himself, who have voted and supported the federal constitutional amendment to allow them to vote.”
The group’s proposal appears to be referring to the manual method of registering voters by keying in their details into EC’s system as has been done before automatic registration was possible.
Make use of IT to mitigate delay
Last month, EC said automatic voter registration and Undi18 can only be done after September 2022, after reviewing constraints and issues that have affected its initial plans and preparation.
EC also claimed that preparation was largely affected by the movement control order.
However, Muda said it would be a “shame” if Undi18 is not implemented soon, as even autocratic nations such as Myanmar have provision for 18-year-old citizens to vote in elections.
“The EC’s excuse in blaming the automatic registration to postpone (the matter) until September 2022 is very embarrassing to the country,” Muda said.
“The issue of minor bureaucracy that can be solved with the use of IT is seen as negating our efforts to market Malaysia as a hub of innovation and digital economy.”
It added that talk of the Industrial Revolution 4.0, big data technology and digital action plans is “pointless” if a simple matter such as automatic voter registration cannot be resolved. – The Vibes, April 7, 2021
