Curtains for 16th Johor state election officially open today, 14-day campaign ahead

NOMINATION for the 16th Johor state election (PRN) will officially open this morning, with the process at 56 nomination centres (PPCs) across the state set to begin at 9 am.

Prospective candidates have until 10 am to submit their nomination forms to the Returning Officer before the list of candidates eligible to contest is officially announced.

Immediately after the declaration, the election 'war drums' will begin with the start of the 14-day campaign period until 11.59 pm, July 10, as set by the Election Commission (EC).

The early voting date for the Johor PRN is July 7, and the polling day is July 11, after the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) was dissolved on June 1.

The EC earlier said that 593 nomination forms had been sold, but only 133 prospective candidates had confirmed their participation by paying the election deposit as of yesterday morning.

Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) will each contest all 56 state seats. UMNO, representing BN, will contest 37 seats, MCA 15 seats and MIC four seats.

PKR, representing PH, will contest 20 seats, Amanah 19 seats and DAP 17 seats. Perikatan Nasional (PN) will contest 32 seats, with Bersatu fielding candidates in almost half of the total, followed by PAS in 11 seats and the Malaysian Indian People's Party (MIPP) in five seats.

Gerakan and Parti Wawasan Negara, which recently joined PN, are not participating in this election.

Among the other parties that have also announced candidates are MUDA, which will contest four seats and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), which has fielded a candidate in Skudai.

This election also saw the debut of the Parti Bersama Malaysia, which will contest in 15 seats.

The EC announced that 2,727,926 voters were eligible to vote, comprising more than 2.7 million ordinary voters, 12,041 military personnel and their spouses, and 12,710 police personnel and their spouses.

The Johor state election was held following the dissolution of the state assembly on June 1. In the 2022 Johor state election, BN secured a two-thirds majority after winning 40 out of 56 seats, while PH won 12 seats, PN three seats and MUDA one seat. – June 27, 2026