Sabah postal vote counting underway ahead of deadline

THE Election Commission (EC) has begun the opening of postal vote envelopes for the 17th Sabah General Election at several vote-counting centres, as the deadline for returning ballots, known as “Envelope B,” approaches at 5 pm today.

The process, streamed live on SPR’s official Facebook page, represents the third of four key stages in postal vote management: issuance, return, opening, and counting.

According to a spokesperson from the EC a total of 22,880 postal vote applications have been approved for this election across three categories – 1A, 1B, and 1C.

These categories include election personnel such as SPR officers, media representatives, security personnel, polling day staff, voters residing abroad, and other designated agencies.

The live broadcast showed the opening process taking place at Dewan Jati in the Sabah Department of Agriculture, covering two state constituencies: N53 Sekong and N54 Karamunting.

In N53 Sekong, 286 postal votes are being processed, comprising 265 votes under category 1A, five under 1B, and 16 under 1C. Meanwhile, N54 Karamunting is handling 696 postal votes, including 685 in category 1A, three in 1B, and eight in 1C.

The operation is being assisted by election officers from Penang, with several candidate agents present to oversee the postal vote opening process. - November 29, 2025