MELAKA goes to the polls today to elect its representatives in the state assembly, with 79 candidates contesting 28 seats in an election that will determine if Barisan Nasional (BN) retains the commanding majority it secured four years ago.
The 14-day campaign for the 16th state election ended at 11.59 pm yesterday, leaving 675,166 ordinary voters eligible to cast their ballots.
BN won 21 seats in the previous election on Nov 20, 2021, while Pakatan Harapan (PH) secured five and Perikatan Nasional (PN) took the remaining two.
The result gave BN a comfortable majority in the 28-seat assembly.
Today’s polling will show whether that advantage has been maintained.
PH has fielded the highest number of candidates this time, contesting 24 seats, followed by BN with 23.
Parti Bersama Malaysia (BERSAMA) is contesting 16 seats, while Bersatu has seven candidates and PN five.
Parti Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia is fielding one candidate, with three others standing as Independents.
The election follows the dissolution of the 15th Melaka State Legislative Assembly on Sept 23, with the consent of Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Mohd Ali Rustam.
According to the Election Commission (EC), 687,697 registered voters are eligible to participate, including 12,531 members of the armed forces, their spouses and police personnel covered by early and postal voting arrangements.
Early voting was held on Tuesday at 31 polling centres.
A total of 9,417 of the 9,917 eligible voters cast their ballots in person, representing a turnout of 94.96%.
Another 2,614 votes were cast by post.
For ordinary polling today, 240 polling centres and 1,213 voting channels have been prepared across the state.
Voting began at 8 am and will close at 6 pm. – November 14, 2026
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