Constitutional amendment will rule out royals from auto electoral registration

KUALA LUMPUR – The Dewan Rakyat today passed, through a bloc vote, an amendment to the federal constitution that allows members of royal families and those serving as Yang di-Pertuan Negeri (TYT) to be excluded from the electoral roll through automatic registration.

The Federal Constitution (Amendment) 2022 Bill will see changes being done to Article 119A of the constitution, which spells out the minimum legal age for voters.

The amendment was voted through in the third reading, with 178 votes in support at the committee stage, and with 42 lawmakers absent during the voting, announced by speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun.

At the policy stage, the bill received 181 votes in support and no votes against, with 39 lawmakers absent.

Today’s amendments, according to the order paper, will see the exclusion of sultans and their spouses, TYTs and their wives, heirs to the throne, and members of the royal families in the future.

The amendment was tabled following the lowering of the legal voting age from 21 years to 18, and the implementation of the automatic voter registration system following bipartisan support for the related constitutional amendment in 2019.

Law Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, when tabling the bill, assured the House that the amendment would in no way deprive the royals of their rights and liberties.

He added that the TYTs and their wives would be reinstated as eligible voters after completing their tenure as heads of states.

“On a policy level, excluding the ruling sultans and their spouses, TYTs and their wives, heirs and their future partners, is needed to ensure the process of check and balance within the administrations of the federal and state governments.

“This matter is also in line with the privileges afforded to the Malay rulers and the position of the TYT as enshrined within the federal constitution and the respective state constitutions,” he said when tabling the Bill.

Amendments to the federal constitution cannot be passed with voice votes, and must instead obtain at least two-thirds support from all parliamentarians. – The Vibes, March 24, 2022