Malaysia Federal Constitution amended with effect from 15 December 2021

20 December 2021

On 15 December 2021, section 3 of the Constitution (Amendment) Act 2019 (“Amendment Act”), which amended Article 119 of Malaysia’s Federal Constitution (“Constitution”) came into operation. The amendment of Article 119 of the Constitution grants citizens that have attained the age of 18 years on the qualifying date the right to vote in a constituency in any election to the House of Representatives or the Legislative Assembly.

The Amendment Act amends the Constitution which provides for, among other things, matters relating to the Federal Legislature and elections.

The other key changes to the Constitution which came into operation in 2019 include the following:

• Amendment of Article 47 of the Constitution resulting in the lowering of the minimum age limit of a member of the House of Representatives from 21 to 18 years old; and 
• Amendment to section 5 of the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution which now provides that every citizen of or over the age of 18 years who is resident in a State is qualified to be a member of that State’s Legislative Assembly, unless disqualified.