Early voting for the 16th Negeri Sembilan state election began at 8am on Tuesday, with 22,339 members of the security forces and their spouses eligible to cast their ballots at 38 polling centres across the state, Bernama reported.
According to the Election Commission (EC), 16,884 Malaysian Armed Forces personnel and their spouses are voting at eight polling centres, while the remaining 5,455 Royal Malaysia Police personnel and their spouses are casting their ballots at 30 centres.
Polling centres will close in stages between noon and 5pm, based on the EC’s schedule. Weather conditions across most parts of the state were reported to be clear during the start of voting.
The state election will see 889,490 ordinary voters head to the polls on Aug 1 to decide the mandate for the 36-seat Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly.
A total of 103 candidates are contesting the election, with Pakatan Harapan (PH) fielding candidates in all 36 seats, followed by Barisan Nasional (BN) with 25, Bersatu with 24 and Perikatan Nasional (PN) with 11. Four independents are also contesting, alongside one candidate each from Barisan Jamaah Islamiah SeMalaysia (Berjasa), Parti Orang Asli Malaysia (ASLI) and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).
The Negeri Sembilan State Assembly was dissolved on June 5, paving the way for the state election.
