Malaysians’ voting eligibility age lowered to 18

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian youths are set to contribute more towards strengthening democracy and shaping the nation once changes to the Constitution to lower the voting age from the current 21 years old to 18 years old are approved. The second reading of the amendment bill was tabled in Parliament by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad who said the number of voters will increase by some 7.8 million to about 22.7 million. This is an increase of about 50 percent compared with the 14.9 million registered voters in the last general election. He cited several reasons for lowering the voting eligibility age, including those young people now, are exposed to extensive information and are more informed thanks to the advancement of mass media technology coupled with more smart and mature thinking.

By Nasir Yusoff