All have right to vote

By Ken Vin Lek - Free Malaysia Today

FMT FOCUS KUALA LUMPUR: Democracy has taken firm roots in Malaysia ever since the country held its first general election in 1955. From that early days, the people were given the responsibility of choosing a government to lead the country. They had tasted democracy and the voting trend through the years had been peaceful.

But the 1969 race riots in the aftermath of a tumultuous election interrupted the smooth curve and democracy was reined in briefly. Then it returned and the ride had all along been smooth for the ruling party until the 2008 political tsunami.
In that historic polls, the Barisan Nasional won 51.4% of the popular vote while Pakatan Rakyat garnered 47.5%.

But the turnout for the 2008 polls was low. FMT carried out a study and found that the percentage of Malaysians who played a role in electing the current government was only a meagre 28.64% or 7.94 million of the total population (28.3 million).

Why the low turnout? One of the reasons was that 42.68% of the population is actually made up of people aged below 21 – which is the legal age to vote.

In Malaysia, a voter must be 21 years old on the “qualifying date”. This means he must be 21 on the day he registered as a voter and not on the date of the election.

Thus, it is hard to describe Malaysia as a democracy, given that the simple majority held by the government only makes up about one-fourth of the population.

The minimum voting age was introduced when the Federal Constitution was formulated in 1957 and has never been amended since.

Many parties, including politicians, academics and NGOs, have called for the voting age to be lowered.

In fact, this was one of the many proposals Bersih, an NGO, recommended in its memorandum submitted to the Election Commission.

Comparisons between countries

Based on a FMT survey of 221 countries or regions where democratic elections take place, it was found that the voting age in seven countries is 16.

In six countries, including Indonesia and Sudan, it is 17 whereas as many as 188 countries opted for 18 as the legal age for voting.

Only 15 countries fixed the right to vote at 21. Malaysia is one of them.

In Asean, every country (except Malaysia and Singapore) set the voting age at 18 or younger and Thailand stands out by being the only country to make it compulsory for all citizens to vote.

In Malaysia, fixing the voting age at 21 has the undemocratic effect of shrinking the electorate as evidenced in the 2008 polls where only 28.64% of the total population cast their votes.

Earlier this year, Emeritus Professor at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi, wrote in The Star that “this state of affairs draws our attention to the law relating to the right to vote in our political system. In a functioning democracy, the rules must permit as many mature citizens as possible to have the right to participate in the electoral exercise of choosing a new government”.

”Lowering the voting age will immediately expand the number of voters and improve the legitimacy of the government in power.”

“This will force political parties to look more seriously into issues that affect young people’s lives and to court young citizens for their votes. Of course, our education system will have to be improved to provide better political education,” Shad Saleem wrote.

Arguments against lowering the voting age
Shad Saleem stated that the main argument in favour of keeping the voting age at 21 or higher is that voters must have the maturity to assess the candidates and the national issues at stake.
“These arguments are hardly convincing. Malaysian data indicates that 69% of our population is urbanised, and 54% uses the Internet. Total adult literacy rate is 92%.”

“A 16-year-old can be tried in the courts as an adult. An 18-year-old may get married; may join the army; may start a company, invest in stocks and pay income tax,” he said.

The FMT survey revealed that almost everything is legal in Malaysia by the age of 18 except for voting.

In 2008, Bar Council president Ragunath Kesavan rubbished the idea of lowering the voting age asking, “Why lower the voting age when millions of young voters over 21 have yet to register as voters?”

“The way forward should be to make voter registration compulsory at 21 instead,” he said.

A walk in history

Back in 1971, the “Age of Majority Act” was passed in Parliament, which set 18 as the age where individuals are no longer considered a minor.

The then DAP Opposition Leader, Lim Kit Siang, said in his winding-up speech at the Dewan Rakyat that if 18-year-olds were treated as mature people and be able to own property, enter into contractual obligations and rights, then there was a strong case to give them the right to vote as well.

“People ought to have the right to vote and to have a say about the way in which their lives are governed and in which the country is being run – at the age at which society expects them to assume adult social responsibilities,” he said.

“I mention this because the prime minister had said that Malaysia does not intend to reduce the voting age of voters because it is not being widely practised in other countries. The fact is more and more countries are doing so,” he added.

Lim's argument was and is still valid: 30 years later, as many as 188 countries have lowered their minimum voting age to 18 or less. It is about time Malaysia took the same road.

By lowering the voting age, more and more people will be enfranchised and can play a pivotal role in deciding who will become their elected leaders. Democracy can only work “when everyone participates...when everyone is voting”.

The 32nd president of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt, once said, “Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a president and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.”