PUTRAJAYA (Oct 20): The Election Commission (EC) has announced that polling for the 15th general election (GE15) will be held on Nov 19, which is a Saturday, while the nomination date falls on Nov 5, which allows for two weeks of campaigning.

During a press conference at Menara SPR on Thursday (Oct 20), EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh also announced that the writ issuance falls on Thursday (Oct 20), while early voting will be held on Nov 15 (Tuesday).

Meanwhile, he said the state by-election for Bugaya in Sabah, which was left vacant following the death of its incumbent Datin Manis Muka Mohd Darah on Nov 17, 2020, will be conducted simultaneously with the GE15. 

Abdul Ghani added that the closing dates for early voting applications are Oct 23 for Malaysians residing overseas, Oct 26 for agencies and organisations, and Nov 2 for media, army, police force and election officials.

A total of 21.17 million people are eligible to vote in the GE15, with 363,515 officers appointed to handle the general election and the Bugaya by-election, he stated. 

“A total of 8,958 ordinary polling stations containing 38,348 voting stations/channels, and 578 early voting stations containing 970 voting stations/channels, will be used. The total number of polling stations is 9,536, with 39,318 polling stations/channels,” he said.

He added that the GE15 and the Bugaya by-election are estimated to cost RM1.01 billion.

The GE15 was set in motion after the EC received the notice of dissolution of the Dewan Rakyat from the Speaker on Oct 11. 

The commission also received notices of dissolution of the state assemblies of Pahang and Perlis on Oct 14, and subsequently Perak on Oct 15.

The GE15 will see the highest number of state assemblies not dissolved concurrently — 10 in total. 

They include three Perikatan Nasional coalition-led states, namely Kelantan, Terengganu, and Kedah, as well as three Pakatan Harapan-led states, namely Penang, Negeri Sembilan, and Selangor.

Four other states have held their state elections after the GE14, namely Melaka, Johor, Sarawak and Sabah.

A total of 222 parliamentary seats will be contested in the GE15, as well as 42 state seats in Pahang, 15 state seats in Perlis, and 59 state seats in Perak. 

Political parties DAP and PKR under the Pakatan Harapan coalition, and the Gerakan Tanah Air coalition will announce their lists of candidates next week. 

For more GE15 stories, click here.