SPA: EC owes explanation on delay in implementation of lowering voter age to 18

Bernama file photo for illustration purposes.

KUCHING (Mar 27): The Sarawak Patriots Association (SPA) is disappointed with the announcement of the Election Commission (EC) pertaining to the implementation of the automatic voter registration (AVR) and the lowering of the voting age to 18 years old that can only be done by September 1, 2022.

In a statement Saturday, its secretary David Hii said that the EC owes an explanation to the public particularly those within the 18 to 20 year-old group as to why there is such a delay in the implementation.

“This delay is depriving those 18 to 20 year-olds their rights to vote in an election, which can be held anytime soon due to the country’s political instability.

“Every eligible person is entitled to vote for it is their constitutional and democratic right to do so. The EC being an executive body should expedite the implementation without any further ado,” he said.

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Hii noted that EC had stated that the nationwide Movement Control Order (MCO) had affected the EC’s plans.

“However, SPA views this explanation as unacceptable. We would like to remind the EC that the historic bill was passed and gazetted in 2019.

“It is almost two years since it was passed, clearly the EC had ample time to implement the changes. Furthermore, the EC stated last year that their preparations were expected to be completed by July 2021,” he said.

Hii said that SPA also hopes that there is no political interference in this matter, which may have resulted in the delay of the implementation.

“Parliament has passed the law and the EC’s role is merely to administer and execute. The right to vote is a fundamental human right and they have a right to take part in the democratic process of electing a government of their choice when the time comes,” he added.

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