MELAKA, Nov 14 — Voter turnout for the Melaka state election reached the 70 per cent targeted by the Election Commision (EC) by 5.10pm today, ahead of polls closing at 6pm.
EC real-time Voter Turnout Monitoring dashboard showed that 468,500 voters, or 70 per cent, had cast their ballots by then in the contest involving 79 candidates across 28 state seats.
Serkam continued to lead with a turnout of 79.08 per cent, followed by Ayer Molek at 78.57 per cent, Tanjung Bidara at 75.94 per cent and Sungai Rambai at 75.83 per cent shortly after 5pm.
Melaka’s rural and suburban seats have seen a positive voter turnout, with most reaching the 70 per cent mark as of 5pm.
However, Melaka’s key urban seats have registered lower voter turnout below the 66 per cent mark with Bandar Hilir at the bottom of the list with 57.55 per cent as of 5.30pm.
Bandar Hilir, a central Melaka seat, has recorded the lowest turnout among Melaka’s 28 state constituencies since polling started at 8am.
This is followed by Kota Laksamana at 62.62 per cent, Sungai Udang at 64.46 per cent, Ayer Keroh at 65.29 per cent and Kesidang at 65.64 per cent.
The Melaka state election has 79 candidates from various parties vying for 28 seats.
A total of 240 polling centres, comprising 1,213 polling streams, opened at 8am today for the 16th Melaka state election. Voting is scheduled to continue until 6pm.
Pakatan Harapan (PH) is fielding the highest number of candidates at 24, followed by Barisan Nasional (BN) with 23, Parti Bersama Malaysia (Bersama) with 16, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) with seven, Perikatan Nasional (PN) with five, Parti Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (Perkasa) with one and three independent candidates.
The election follows the dissolution of the 15th Melaka State Legislative Assembly on September 23, with the consent of Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Mohd Ali Rustam.
In the previous state election on November 20, 2021, BN won 21 of the 28 seats, while PH took five and PN secured two.
