[UPDATED] Voting for GE15 on Nov 19, nominations on Nov 5: Election Commission

PUTRAJAYA – Malaysia’s 15th general election (GE15) and state elections for Perlis, Pahang and Perak will be held on November 19, a Saturday, the Election Commission (EC) said today.

Nomination day is fixed for November 5, EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh told a press conference after a special meeting of the elections governing body.

This means the campaign period will last 14 days.

Early voting will be held on November 15. 

The Bugaya state seat in Sabah, which fell vacant in November 2020, will also hold its by-election concurrently on November 19, Ghani added.

The three states holding elections concurrently with parliamentary polls are Barisan Nasional-governed states – Pahang with 42 seats, Perlis with 15, and Perak with 59.

Ghani said the EC would utilise the electoral roll as of October 9, 2022, consisting of 21,173,638 voters. This includes youths aged 18 to 21 and new voters who have been automatically registered following the implementation of Undi18 which lowers the voting age to 18.

Of the total, 20,905,366 are regular voters, 146,737 are armed forces personnel and their family members, 118,794 are police officers, and 2,741 are overseas voters.

Selangor has the most registered voters at 3,677,848, followed by Johor with 2,616,575 voters, and Perak with 2,036,872 voters.

For Sabah, 1,689,387 persons are eligible to vote, while Sarawak has 1,943,074 registered voters.

On polling day, 363,515 personnel will be deployed while 9,536 voting centres with 39,318 voting channels will be utilised. 

The EC has also appointed 222 election officers with 1,264 assisting officers and has formed 625 election enforcement teams for the elections.

The EC also estimated that these elections would cost RM1.01 billion 

However, PAS-led Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, and Pakatan Harapan-led Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Penang have decided not to dissolve their respective legislative assemblies this year.

Meanwhile, Sabah, Sarawak, Melaka, and Johor have held their state elections in the last two years. 

The by-election for the Bugaya state seat in Sabah had earlier been postponed by an emergency proclamation during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Its incumbent, Manis Muka Mohd Darah died on November 17, 2022, after being re-elected in the state election more than a month prior in September of that year. – The Vibes, October 20, 2022