Not possible for Undi18 now, laws must change first, counsel tells court

 

Five Sarawakian youths have filed a legal challenge on the delay in implementing Undi18.

PETALING JAYA: The High Court in Kuching today heard how Undi18 cannot be implemented for the time being due to the many challenges faced by the Election Commission (EC) in executing the constitutional amendments that came into force in July 2019.

Senior federal counsel Azizan Md Arshad said several election laws and regulations need to be amended, as well as a review of the data of 18-year-olds with the National Registration Department (JPN) and other agencies.

“It is not that we don’t want to execute Undi18 and automatic voter registration, we just can’t do it for the time being.

“We need to make sure these 18-year-olds are eligible voters, have no convictions, are not serving sentences or being detained in a mental hospital,” he said in an online proceeding today.

Five Sarawakians, aged 19 to 20, filed a legal challenge in May seeking to quash the Perikatan Nasional government’s decision not to implement the Undi18 amendments by July.

They claimed the decision to delay the enforcement is unreasonable as it denies their right to become voters.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and the EC were named as respondents in the judicial review.

Judicial commissioner Alexander Siew questioned why the government took so long to amend the election laws, to give effect to the constitutional amendments.

“These amendments were passed in the Dewan Rakyat in July 2019. And now we are in August 2021,” the judge remarked.

To this, Azizan said any law that needs to be amended has to be tabled before the Dewan Rakyat and all MPs need to vote on them.

“What if the MPs reject the bills?” he asked.

Azizan also said the EC needed to set up a mechanism to face the possibility that an 18-year-old wanted to opt out from being registered as a voter.

“There is a perception by the public that you cannot opt out from the electoral roll once the system registers you automatically,” he said.

Lawyer Clarice Chan, appearing for the five Sarawakians, said MPs had previously debated on giving rights to 18-year-olds to vote, and that this should not be deterred or restricted by other matters.

“The cleaning of the electoral rolls and related issues should not hinder the youths’ rights,” she said.

Chan said the EC could have also chosen other methods, instead of relying solely on automatic voter registration.

“They don’t have to wait for this. The duty to register potential voters now lies with the EC.

“Confining them to one mode of registration would deprive them of their voting rights,” she said, pointing out that the current registration process requires those who reach 21 years of age to submit their applications to EC.

She said the state election is likely to be held at the end of February 2022, after the end of the emergency.

“We urge the government to carry out the execution of Undi18 by then,” she said.

Siew fixed Aug 30 for the court’s decision. - FMT