Government will not appeal court decision, will implement Undi 18

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has decided to go ahead with the implementation of Undi 18 and the automatic voter registration by Dec 31 this year at the latest as ordered by the Kuching High Court, the Dewan Rakyat was told.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the Cabinet had, in a meeting on Sept 10, also agreed not to appeal the High Court's decision.

"The Kuching High Court judge when allowing the judicial review application on Undi 18 had ordered for the lowering of the minimum voting age from 21 to 18 and the automatic voter registration to be implemented by Dec 31, 2021, at the latest.

"As such, despite the many constraints and shortcomings, the Election Commission (EC) is committed to ensuring the lowering of voting age to 18 and the automatic voter registration to be implemented as ordered by the court," he said during question time today.

Wan Junaidi said this in reply to Gobind Singh Deo (PH-Puchong) who wanted to know the status of the implementation of Undi 18 and the next step to be taken to implement it.

Wan Junaidi said the EC had previously expected that all issues related to Undi 18 and automatic voter registration could be resolved and implemented by September 2022 at the latest.

He said the EC is in the midst of implementing the amendment to Article 119 of the Federal Constitution relating to the voting age of 18 and automatic voter registration as approved at the Second Meeting of the Second Session of the 14th Parliament.

The issues include the amendment to the Elections (Registration of Electors) Regulations 2002 and other related laws, as well as preparations of the standard operating procedures, systems and infrastructure for the implementation of Undi 18 and automatic voter registration, he added.

-- BERNAMA