KUALA LUMPUR: The enrolment of 18-year-olds as voters has not yet been implemented, the Election Commission (EC) said today.
Its chairman, Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun, was responding to recent social media posts urging Malaysians over the age of 18 to register as voters.
"The 18-year-old voter registration move would be carried out concurrently with the automatic voter registration scheme, once all EC preparations are completed, including amendments to the Electoral (Voter Registration) Regulations 2002 and other relevant laws, the preparation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) as well as the provision of the necessary systems and implementation of infrastructure," he said in a statement.
Azhar said all these preparations are expected to be completed by July next year
He added that the EC will, from time to time, release statements on the latest developments, and urged members of the public to check with the EC via its website at www.spr.gov.my or its Facebook account, or by calling 03-8892 7200 to prevent the spread of fake news.
The Dewan Rakyat on July 16, 2019 approved a legal amendment to lower the voting age to 18, from 21 previously. The amendment also included provisions for voters to be automatically registered on electoral rolls and for candidates to be eligible to stand for election from 18 years of age.
The move for automatic voter registration, to be concurrently implemented with the lowering of the voting age to 18, will see as many as 7.8 million new voters added to the electoral roll by 2023.