Court grants leave for bid to compel Undi18 implementation by July

 

The High Court in Kuching has granted leave for a judicial review to compel the government to implement Undi18 by July this year.

The hearing is slated for June 30.

The judicial review bid was made by five youths from Undi Sarawak - a campaign managed by the Undi18 group.

The Election Commission had in March said that lowering the voting age to 18, together with automatic voter registration (AVR), would be delayed to after September next year.

This caused an uproar as the delay would mean 1.2 million youths would not be able to vote in the next general election, which is widely speculated to be held after the emergency is lifted in August.

Following this, the government has vowed the voting age will be lowered this year although it has not given an exact timeline.

In a statement, Undi Sarawak expressed gratitude to the High Court for granting leave for their judicial review.

They also said that lowering the voting age was important as between 125,000 and 135,000 Sarawakians aged 18 to 20 should be granted the right to vote in the Sarawak state election, which is also due once the emergency is lifted.

"We reiterate that the Undi18 bill must be implemented by July 2021 to ensure these young Sarawakians can exercise their rights as first-time voters during the upcoming state election," Undi Sarawak said.

The Undi18 group has filed a separate judicial review application to also compel lowering the voting age by July, in Kuala Lumpur.

The High Court in Kuala Lumpur is set to decide on whether or not to grant leave on June 17. - Mkini