Undi18 delay inexcusable: Government’s credibility marred by youths feeling deceived

After over a year under various phases of Movement Control Orders (MCO) due to Covid-19, the Election Commission now dares blame the MCO for the delay of Undi18 and the automatic voter registration. This is not only a betrayal of the Parliament’s bipartisan decision, but youths nationwide as well will not forgive such a cheap excuse.

The given reason of the MCO affecting the implementation is fallacious. Since the amendment Bill was passed in July 2019, the public has expected that the Election Commission (EC) would expedite this matter to make the voting process more democratic. But the excuses given simply sound like they are reluctant to implement it.

We would like to remind the EC, the Undi18 and automatic registration were some of the policies which gained the support of politicians from both sides as well as the public. If Undi18 is not implemented by the next election, it will cause youths between 18 to 20 years of age to lose their vote, and in turn, other qualified voters will use their votes to punish the election candidates.

Of course, from a technical perspective, the EC and the National Registration Department (NRD) will have to set up certain digital functions to allow automatic registration. However, such a task does not require manpower or lengthy paperwork, and thus cannot be blamed on the ongoing pandemic; using the same logic, it is even more ridiculous to say lowering of voting age is not possible due to the pandemic. Besides that, anyone with basic computer skills would know that a simple application with client-server verification would suffice to allow thousands of users to accurately perform the necessary procedure. Why would there be a need for such a long delay?

The EC’s decision has resulted in overwhelmingly negative feedback. We hope that the Prime Minister and the Cabinet will address the issue by instructing the EC to continue with its original timeline, ensuring that Undi18 and automatic registration will be implemented by the end of June 2021.

Dato’ Sri Hoh Khai Mun

MCA Pahang State Liaison Committee Chairman

-MCA online-