KUALA LUMPUR: Voters in Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan will go to the polls on Aug 12, following the Election Commission’s (EC) decision to hold simultaneous state elections in the six states.
When announcing this today, EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh said nominations would be held on July 29 and early voting on Aug 8.
He said about 9.7 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots in the state polls.
“The electoral rolls to be used in the state elections are the latest ones until the Supplementary Electoral Roll for April 2023, updated as at June 21,” he told a press conference after chairing a special EC meeting on the state polls at Menara SPR here.
EC convened the meeting after receiving the notification on the official dissolution of the six state assemblies from their Speakers.
Kelantan was the first to dissolve its state assembly on June 22, followed by Selangor (June 23), Penang, Kedah and Terengganu (June 28), and Negeri Sembilan (July 1).
These six states did not dissolve their state assemblies when Parliament was dissolved on Oct 10 last year to pave the way for the 15th general election (GE15) on Nov 19.
Abdul Ghani said the state polls would involve 245 seats, comprising 36 in Kedah, 45 in Kelantan, 32 in Terengganu, 40 in Penang, 56 in Selangor and 36 in Negeri Sembilan.
“The campaign period has been fixed for 14 days, beginning from after the announcement on candidates’ names on July 29, 2023 until 11.58 pm on Aug 11, 2023,” he said.
Abdul Ghani said applications for all categories of postal votes overseas and in the country were opened on June 15.
The closing dates for postal vote applications are July 26 for category 1A (election staff, EC members/officers, police, military personnel, and media practitioners); July 8 for category 1B (Malaysians who are overseas); and July 11 for category 1C (agencies/organisations).
Applications for all categories of postal voting was implemented online, he added.
Abdul Ghani said EC had appointed 245 returning officers and 740 assistant returning officers for the polls.
EC would also set up 252 Election Campaign Enforcement Teams (PP-KPR) to monitor election campaign activities throughout the official campaign period, he said.
“The PP-KPR will comprise representatives of the Royal Malaysia Police, local authorities and candidates,” he added.
He said 173 nomination centres (PPC) and 186 vote-tallying centres (PPRU) would be used for the polls.
There will be 3,450 polling centres involving 17,425 voting places or streams, he said.
Abdul Ghani urged prospective candidates to fill up their forms and make early checks with the relevant Returning Officer’s Office or State Election Office before nomination day.
“Prospective candidates are also encouraged to make their deposit payments early to ensure the nomination process can be conducted more smoothly and completed earlier.
“Please be reminded that nomination papers which have been filled up and checked by the Returning Officer’s Office should be submitted by the candidates or their proposers or seconders on nomination day at the PPC designated by EC,” katanya.
EC is inviting government agencies, non-governmental organisations and other interested bodies to apply to be observers of the election process from nomination day until the announcement of results.
“They are allowed to conduct observations at places like PPC, polling centres, vote-counting centres and PPRU, and must abide by all the conditions of appointment set by EC,” he said.
Applications to be election observers were opened on June 15, 2023 and will close on July 7, and they can be made online via email at pemerhati@spr.gov.my. Further information is available on https://www.spr.gov.my. - Bernama