Give EC time, law minister urges on Undi 18

Law minister Takiyuddin Hassan today said that the Election Commission (EC) should be given space and time to implement automatic voter registration and lower the age of voting to 18.

He said various procedures had to be addressed before these could be put in place, including dealings with the National Registration Department (JPN).

“It is not easy (to implement Undi 18) as a lot of issues need to be taken into account. Among the problems faced by EC is addresses, that has to be referred to JPN. So long as the addresses are not complete, we are afraid that some might not be able vote as they would not know where to vote.

“Based on the address on the identification card, the EC will decide where the voter will vote, which state, parliamentary constituency,” he told reporters after an event today.

Takiyuddin also said the EC is an independent body not bound to the government and, as such, its decisions would not favour any party over the other.

Last Thursday, EC chairman Abdul Ghani Salleh announced that automatic voter registration and the lowering of the voting age to 18 could only be implemented by Sept 1 next year.

Following the announcement, various parties disputed the matter including some who considered the postponement of the implementation of Undi 18 as unreasonable.