KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has no plans to make it mandatory for its citizens reaching the age of 18 and above to vote, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
The government, she said, will continue with the existing approach of educating and promoting awareness to encourage Malaysians to carry out their responsibility as a voter when they are required to do so.
"The government consistently upholds the principles of the Federal Constitution which, amongst others, ensures the rights of Malaysian citizens to vote in elections.
"And as a country which upholds democracy, the fundamental freedom is granted to every Malaysian citizen under the Constitution to fulfill their responsibility as voters in elections.
"Based on this principle, the government currently has no plan to make voting mandatory for all Malaysian citizens."
Azalina said this in a written reply to Mohd Sany Hamzan (Pakatan Harapan - Hulu Langat) if the government has any plans to amend the Constitution to make it voting mandatory to every Malaysian citizens reaching the age of 18 and above.
The Parliament in 2019 passed an amendment to the Constitution to lower the age of voting among Malaysians from 21 to 18, besides automatically registered as voters when they turn 18.