KUALA LUMPUR: The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2019 to lower the voting age to 18 was approved in the Dewan Rakyat with more than two-third majority.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof said all 211 members of Parliament who were present had voted for the amendment, with the minimum requirement was 148 votes.
“Congratulations to all for creating history on this day, a year after we were sworn-in (in Dewan Rakyat),” said Mohamad Ariff.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his wrap-up speech said there would be about 7.8 million new voters in the electoral roll by 2023.
He said the government had no plans to make it compulsory for all constituents to go out and vote in elections, as voting was the people's right.
With this, the voting age, as well as eligibility to contest in election, was lowered to 18, and voters would be automatically registered in electoral roll.