Johor polls first to have Undi18 voters, says EC's Dr Azmi Sharom

PETALING JAYA: The upcoming Johor polls are set to be the first election to have 18-year-olds as voters, following the successful implementation of Undi18.

Election Commission (EC) deputy chairman Dr Azmi Sharom said the latest electoral roll which was gazetted on Jan 14 includes voters who turned 18 as of Dec 31 last year.

“As the Johor state assembly was dissolved after the Jan 14 electoral roll was gazetted, those who are 18 and above as of Dec 31 will be eligible for this state election,” said Dr Azmi to The Star.

Based on the EC’s Jan 14 electoral roll, a total of 5,718,760 Malaysians aged 18 and above as of Dec 31 have been automatically registered as new voters.

While the electoral roll is under a six-month review period which ends on July 13, Dr Azmi said the newly registered voters will still be eligible to vote.

The Johor state assembly was dissolved on Jan 22, paving the way for a state election to be held within 60 days.

In Johor, there will be some 700,000 newly registered voters eligible to vote in the election.

In December, Malaysia implemented automatic voter registration and also lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.

On Jan 6, the Johor state assembly also amended its constitution to lower the minimum age of election candidates for state seats from 21 to 18 years.