Youths to tackle question of compulsory voting in 'debate-thon'

 

In August, youths aged 16 to 25 will debate the topic of compulsory voting in Malaysia, in the latest series of Parliamentary Debathon 2022 organised by Malaysiakini.

Debaters are expected to convince the audience whether to vote for or against the motion titled “Should Malaysia Make Voting Compulsory?”

Voting for the motion would mean a low voter turnout in elections would not accurately represent voter demographics in Malaysia, affecting the democratic system in the long run.

The opposing argument to this, however, is that a compulsory voting mandate may violate the right not to vote.

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This motion was chosen after Malaysia saw a relatively low voter turnout in the recent Johor state election of 54.92 percent involving 1,426,573 voters.

This is despite Undi18 and the automatic voter registration system coming into effect, seeing an increase of over 6.11 million new voters in the country.

Youths participating in the debate will do so in the same way MPs do in Parliament, including being moderated by a speaker.

This debate series was incepted in 2019 when three motions were discussed - Precariat Workers in the Gig Economy, Cybersecurity and Privacy and The Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

For further information and to join the event, visit the Youth Parliamentary Debathon 2022 website.

Youth debaters may also directly apply for the event here.

Dialogue sessions will begin in July before the debate in August.