The DAP criticised the Election Commission today for commenting o­n amendments to the minimum voting age, a decision which rests with Parliament.

EC secretary Wan Ahmad Wan Omar was quoted in the New Straits Times today as having said that Malaysia has no plan to drop the minimum voting age from 21 to 18, although this has become the norm in many countries.

"From the point of maturity of thought, they (citizens between 18 and 21) lack the awareness to decide politically," he said during a briefing for Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders in Kangar, Perlis.

Electoral roll

DAP national chairperson Lim Kit Siang rebuked the commission for "tinkering (with) and trespassing into policy issues," instead of doing a good job of its constitutional mandate to conduct free, fair and clean elections.

"The greatest blot o­n the Election Commission is its inability ... to clean the electoral roll of phantom voters," he said in a statement.

According to Lim, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had alleged last November that there are 2.8 million phantom voters - over 30 per cent of total registered voters - in the electoral roll.

Following the revelation, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that BN would submit details of the phantom voters - who were allegedly transferred to constituencies unrelated to them - to the Election Commission before the next general election.

"Has the BN submitted proof of these 2.8 million phantom voters? What has the Election Commission done about them? Or have Mahathir and Abdullah made baseless allegations about phantom voters?" asked Lim.

He said the commission must not be allowed to shirk its responsibility of drawing up a clean electoral roll.

If it fails to do so, the DAP leader suggested that members of parliament from all political parties pass a vote of no confidence in the commission at the next sitting of the Dewan Rakyat.

He also pointed out that EC's "struggle" to introduce an electronic voter registration system was a "standing embarrassment to Malaysia", especially when this comes seven years after the country's decision to pioneer e-government.

"An Internet search will show that many countries allow their citizens to register as voters electronically ... in Malaysia, the Election Commission is incapable of any such elementary electronic services," he added.