MELAKA: Nearly 700,000 voters in the state will head to the ballot box on Nov 14, says the Election Commission.
Its chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun also said that nomination will be on Oct 31, and early voting will take place on Nov 10.
The cost of running the election is estimated to be RM28.45mil.
“The 14-day campaign period will begin immediately after candidates are formally declared on Oct 31 and end at 11.59pm on Nov 13,” he told a press conference after chairing a special meeting on preparations for the 16th state election.
Ramlan said the electoral roll to be used for the election, updated as of Sept 22, contained 687,697 voters.
They comprise 675,166 ordinary voters, 9,769 military personnel and their spouses, and 2,762 police personnel.
The election will involve all 28 state seats, with 271 polling centres comprising 31 early voting centres and 240 ordinary polling centres.
A total of 1,263 polling streams will be available, and 11,175 election workers would be appointed to conduct the polls.
The election follows the dissolution of the Melaka State Legislative Assembly on Sept 23.
In the 2021 state election, Barisan Nasional won 21 of the 28 seats to form the state government, while Pakatan Harapan secured five and Perikatan Nasional two.
On another issue, Ramlan said voter attendance checks are set to become faster as the EC expands a pilot document-scanning system.
He said the system will automatically record and mark voters’ attendance by scanning information on their identification documents.
“Voters only need to turn up at their polling centres as usual and present their identification documents for verification before proceeding to vote according to the prescribed procedures.”
