A police officer checks the tables used for early voting in this file photo.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will not use technology in conducting elections until and unless “we are convinced that the technology is safe and security can be guaranteed”, Election Commission chairman Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun said today.
“We have to do a proper study (on the matter),” he said at the plenary session on Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies: The Role of Institutional Reform at the Malaysia Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit 2019, here.
“(However), the EC and all of us cannot overlook the usage of technology to promote inclusiveness and (to get the) participation of everybody,” he said.
Citing the success story of the electronic voting method in Estonia and India, he stressed that Malaysia should not adapt the technology just for the sake of doing so.
He said among the EC’s concerns are combating fake news being circulated without proper checks and also Big Data manipulation.
The summit, which was opened by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad earlier today, carries the theme Accelerating Progress on the SDGs: Whole of Nation Approach, and will contribute ideas and strategies to move the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development forward and energise partnerships through the whole of the nation approach in attaining the SDGs.
On another matter, Azhar said Undi18 (lowering the voting age from 21 to 18) will serve as a mechanism for youths to choose their own representation and have their voices heard.
“The youths now face so many challenges … (some) because of their own behaviour, like drug consumption and baby dumping … policies are being made affecting their future everyday but they have no representation.
“With Undi18, I believe, finally, their voice can be heard. They are the future of the nation,” he said.
The Constitution amendment bill to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 was passed by the Dewan Rakyat with unanimous bipartisan support on July 16 and was approved by the Dewan Negara on July 25 with a two-third majority.
The amendment also proposed a reduction to 18 the age for eligibility as members of parliament and state legislative assemblies, as well as automatic voter registration. – Bernama