State elections kick off with nomination of candidates

The elections in six states kicked off today with the nomination of candidates for 245 seats at 173 centres, all of which opened at 9am.

Prospective candidates representing political parties or contesting on an independent ticket at the state elections in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu have until 10am to submit their nomination forms to the returning officer at the nomination centres.

Also to be held is the by-election for the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat, which was declared vacant following the Terengganu Election Court’s decision to nullify the victory of Ahmad Amzad Hashim of PAS at the 15th general election.

The 14-day campaign period for the state elections and the by-election will begin after the official announcement of candidates by the returning officer, and will run until 11.59pm on Aug 11.

The Election Commission (EC) has set Aug 12 as the polling date and Aug 8 for early voting.

This is the first time that the six states are holding their elections apart from the general election. 

The state assembly of Kelantan, which has 45 seats, was dissolved on June 22, followed by the 56-seat state assembly of Selangor on June 23.

The 40-seat Penang state assembly, 36-seat Kedah state assembly, and 32-seat Terengganu state assembly were dissolved simultaneously on June 28, while the 36-seat Negeri Sembilan state assembly completed its full five-year term before being dissolved on July 1.

According to EC's statistics, a total of 9,773,571 registered electors will be eligible to vote in the six state elections with Selangor having the highest number at 3,747,057;  followed by Kedah (1,585,085), Kelantan (1,411,912), Penang (1,234,198), Terengganu (930,894) and Negeri Sembilan (864,425).

Fair weather is expected in Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu in the morning today, according to the Malaysian Meteorological Department.

Rain is forecast in one or two areas in the interior of Selangor, while thunderstorms in one or two places are predicted in Negeri Sembilan.