Malaysian Court Orders Govt to Allow Youths to Vote by Year’s End

Young Malaysians were jubilant Friday after five of their peers won a High Court lawsuit against their government for its delay in granting the vote to millions of 18- to 21-year-olds.

If the government does not appeal the ruling, people in that age range will be able to vote in the next general election. The current unelected prime minister has yet to comment on polls, but his predecessor had said he would call for a national vote as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic ended.

The federal government must allow youths to vote by Dec. 31, the Kuching High Court in Sarawak ruled, in a case filed in May after the Election Commission (EC) delayed granting young people the vote to September 2022 from July this year.

The five plaintiffs in the suit, members of the Sarawak branch of the national Young Voters Association, called Undi18, said they were grateful to the court and called its ruling “a monumental decision.”

“[O]ur main goal was not to win, but more towards sending a message, saying that delaying the implementation of the Undi18 bill is irrational, illegal, disproportionate, and amounts to voter suppression,” UNDI18 Sarawak said in a statement.

“Now, in the upcoming general elections, there will approximately 8 million new voters, which is a significant figure that can change the course of an election.”

In his order, Judge Alexander Siew said the federal government and the EC had acted “illegally” and “irrationally” when they delayed implementing a constitutional amendment that lowered the voting age, and which Parliament passed in 2019.

“[T]his Court is compelled to and hereby grants… [the order] that the respondents take all steps necessary for [the constitution amendment] to come into operation as soon as possible and in any event by December 31, 2021,” the judge ruled.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed had said in 2019 that the amendment lowering the voting age to below a minimum age of 21 would increase the number of voters in the country – 15 million back then – by 50 percent, or 7.5 million.

Upcoming KL ruling

Meanwhile, a ruling is expected Oct. 21 on another similar case filed by Undi18 at the Kuala Lumpur High Court. The Sarawakian Undi18 group hoped the Kuala Lumpur court would use the Kuching court’s verdict as a precedent and pass a similar order.

If the Kuala Lumpur court also ruled in favor of Undi18, the government could appeal one or both verdicts in the Court of Appeal. The government could also postpone implementation of the constitutional amendment by filing a stay of execution on one or both orders.

But if the Kuala Lumpur court ruled against Undi18, it would “create dissonance and confusion,” Clarice Chan, a lawyer, told BenarNews.

“The Election Commission will have to implement the federal constitution differently in one state and not the other,” she told BenarNews.

The government has one month to appeal the Kuching court’s ruling.

Lawmaker Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, 28, who had spearheaded the movement to lower the voting age, and many on social media, said they hoped the government would not appeal the Kuching ruling.

“Young people had to go to court to get their voting rights. Respect their rights!” Syed Saddiq said on Twitter.

Government officials did not immediately respond to BenarNews requests for comment on the verdict in Sarawak.

Implications for next election

The youth vote “will be decisive in GE15,” said Bridget Welsh, an academic at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, referring to the next general election, which under ordinary circumstances would have been scheduled for 2023.

However, after the collapse of Mahathir’s elected government last year, and the second consecutive unelected government at the helm currently, the national elections could take place next year if the pandemic subsides.

New Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has not said anything about the next election since he took over on Aug. 23. His predecessor Muhyiddin Yassin – under whose government the EC delayed lowering the voting age – had promised nationwide polls as soon as the pandemic abated.

Academic Welsh said the Kuching court’s ruling and the upcoming election would keep all political parties on their toes.

“Decision puts all parties on notice that more needs to be done to address [the] needs [of the] young – education, employment and respect,” she said on Twitter.

The pandemic has increased employment and income difficulties for Malaysia’s young workers aged 15-24, said an article published this week by Singapore’s Yusof Ishak Institute.

Youth unemployment touched 12.5 percent in 2020, up from 10.5 percent in 2019, the article said, adding the COVID-19 stimulus packages “prioritized the more experienced workers.”

“[I]t is also imperative to buffer the adverse effects on young workers and fresh graduates. Malaysia has implemented various programs, mostly for the general populace but with a few addressing young worker concerns,” the article said.

 “The freshly appointed government will face severe pressure to address the plight of the unemployed youths and young workers.”

Young Malaysians had been coming out in force to protest the previous Muhyiddin administration. They said the PM should resign because his government was incompetent and had botched the pandemic response.

Muhyiddin did resign, but because the main party in his ruling coalition withdrew their support to him. The new Ismail Sabri government, though, looks almost exactly like its predecessors, with a near-identical cabinet – many on social media ridiculed it.

On Friday, one Malaysian said via Twitter that the 18- to 21-year olds would have a big impact in the next national elections.

The “Undi18 decision will greatly change the outcome of the coming election,” Ulya Husamudin said.

“If the government truly believes and supports the youth, they should not appeal [the court’s decision.]”