661,905 voters aged 18 to 20 to have a say

It’s a go for state polls: Abdul Ghani (second from right) handing over the returing officer appointment letter to Wan Sajiri Wan Hasan as his deputy Dr Azmi Sharom (left) and EC sec -gen Datuk Ikmalrudin Ishak look on. — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star

PUTRAJAYA: A total of 661,905 eligible young voters aged 18 to 20 will be voting in the upcoming six state polls that fall on Aug 12, says the Election Commission (EC).

Selangor tops the list with 274,194 voters, followed by Kedah with 104,284 and Kelantan, 96,513.

EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh also announced that the nomination day for candidates will be on July 29 while early voting will be on Aug 8.

“The campaign period has been set for 14 days from the nomination day on July 29 until 11.59pm on Aug 11,” he said in a press conference here yesterday.

As of June 21, 9,773,571 voters will be eligible to cast their ballots in the 15th state elections comprising six states – Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Penang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan.

It consists of 9,674,456 normal voters, 49,660 armed forces members and their spouses, 47,728 police force members and their spouses, and 1,727 absent voters based overseas.

He also said that the cost to run the polls in all six states is estimated at RM420mil.

The state elections will see a total of 245 seats to be contested – Kedah (36 seats), Kelantan (45), Terengganu (32), Penang (40), Selangor (56) and Negri Sembilan (36).

“The EC has appointed 245 returning officers and 740 assistant returning officers throughout the election process. A total of 173 nomination centres and 186 official vote tallying centres will be established.

“There will also be 3,190 regular polling centres with 17,048 polling channels and 260 early voting centres with 377 polling channels,” said Abdul Ghani.

The EC had on June 15 opened applications for registration for domestic and international postal voting.

The deadline for postal votes applications will be on July 26, he added.

The announcement follows the dissolution of the state assemblies of the six states to hold fresh polls.

Last Monday, EC secretary Datuk Ikmalrudin Ishak said yesterday’s meeting followed the receipt of notices of the official dissolution of the six state assemblies from their respective state assembly speakers.

Before the dissolution, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu were held by Perikatan Nasional while Penang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan were ruled by Pakatan Harapan.

Pakatan will be partnering in elections for the first time with Barisan Nasional.

Voters can check their polling information via the EC website at https://mysprsemak.spr.gov.my from July 17.