KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has granted leave to the Undi 18 movement to proceed with its application for a judicial review of the government's delay in lowering the voting age from 21 to 18.
The decision was made by judge Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid via Zoom today.
In allowing the leave application filed by 18 Malaysian youths on behalf of the movement, the judge said they had passed the leave threshold.
He said the Constitutional amendments for lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years old had been passed in Parliament and received the royal assent.
"The only outstanding issue is the timing in which the same comes into effect," he said.
He said he agreed with the applicants' argument that the amendments to the relevant acts and regulations is a secondary issue which should not stand in the way for the constitutional amendment to come into effect.
He said in his view, the applicants' case is not frivolous nor vexatious and the court should allow the matter to proceed to the substantive stage.
"The court should allow the respondents to provide an explanation by affidavit and thereafter only decide on whether a case had been made and what reliefs are appropriate.
"Accordingly, this application for leave to commence judicial review proceedings is hereby allowed with no order as to costs," he said.
The judge fixed July 1 for case management via e-Review.
The youths were represented by lawyers Datuk S.Ambiga and Datuk Gurdial Singh Nijar while senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan acted for the respondents in the online proceeding.
On April 2, the youths aged between 18 and 20 filed their legal challenge on behalf of the Undi 18 movement to force the implementation of lowering the voting age to 18 years old, and to enable the automatic voter registration (AVR).
They had named Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the government and the Election Commission (EC) as respondents in their bid.
In the application, they are seeking a declaration that the government's action to delay the enforcement of lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18 was illegal, disproportionate and a form of voter suppression among others.
They want a declaration that those aged 18 to 20 have a legitimate expectation that they will have the right to vote on or before July 2021.
The youths aged between 18 and 20 are also seeking to quash the government's decision not to enforce the Undi 18 amendments by July 2021.