KUALA LUMPUR: The government's attempt to delay the implementation of lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 is irrational, the High Court was told today.
Counsel Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan said the postponement would cause an unreasonable situation in the election process.
She said 18-year-old Malaysian citizen could stand as a candidate in elections but was unable to vote in such elections.
"The individual cannot vote for himself/herself despite being able to contest… they (the government) must stop this nonsense and continue with the implementation," she said.
Ambiga said this when submitting for the Undi 18 movement which filed a judicial review to challenge government's action delaying the implementation of lowering the voting age from 21 to 18.
The movement is also seeking to enable the automatic voter registration system (AVR).
They named the then prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the government, and the Election Commission (EC) as respondents in their bid.
In July 2019, the Federal Constitution was amended with unanimous vote to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 and to allow AVR.
Meanwhile, Datuk Dr Gurdial Singh Nijhar, appearing with Ambiga, said 1.2 million youths would be deprived if they could not vote in the upcoming elections.
"They must be allowed to vote as the constitutional amendments have been passed in parliament and received the royal consent.
"The amendments to the relevant acts and regulations are secondary issues which should not stand in the way for the constitutional amendment to come into effect.
"Our political situation is very volatile, and this must be solved as soon as possible to allow them to vote during next general election," he said.
Gurdial also contended the government's excuse to use the Covid-19 pandemic to delay the registration of voters via AVR as unacceptable.
"On March 25, the Election Commission (EC) in a press statement mentioned that AVR and Undi 18 would only be implemented after Sept 1 next year.
"This is purportedly because of challenges faced by the EC pursuant to the Movement Control Order (MCO).
"This is unacceptable as AVR should have been completed last month as announced by the government in October two years ago," he said.
He said the government through its former Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Parliament and Law), Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan and EC former deputy chairman Dr Azmi Sharom, both revealed that the AVR system was on track.
However, senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan who acted for the respondents, submitted that EC had difficulty ironing out the AVR system due to the MCO.
"The EC needs to go to the ground and reach out the new voters for verification purposes.
"We are not saying that Covid-19 is the main reason, but it does have an effect in the implementation of AVR as physical interaction is needed," he said.
Judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid fixed Oct 21 to deliver his judgment.
In the application, the movement is seeking a declaration that the government's action to delay the enforcement of lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 was illegal, disproportionate, and a form of voter suppression.
They want a declaration that those aged 18 to 20 have a legitimate expectation that they will have the right to vote on or before July 2021.
The applicants seek to quash the government's decision not to enforce the Undi 18 amendments by July 2021.