Over half of Melaka has voted by 1.38pm, but is 70pc within reach?

Election Commission chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun (second right) chats with voters during a visit to the SJKC Malim polling centre in Melaka on November 14, 2026, during the 16th state election. — Bernama pic

By Ben Tan

First Published: Saturday, 14 Nov 2026 2:28 PM MYT

MELAKA, Nov 14 — More than 50 per cent of registered voters in Melaka had cast their ballots by 1.38pm today, passing the halfway mark in the state election.

The Election Commission’s (EC) real-time Voter Turnout Monitoring dashboard recorded turnout at 50.43 per cent as of 1.38pm, with 337,716 voters having voted.

The EC is targeting a 70 per cent turnout in the election, which sees 79 candidates contesting 28 seats.

Serkam continued to record the highest turnout among the 28 state constituencies, at 57.19 per cent, while Bandar Hilir was the lowest, at 43.16 per cent.

Serkam was closely followed by Tanjung Bidara at 56.55 per cent, Ayer Molek at 55.93 per cent and Ayer Limau at 55.73 per cent.

A total of 240 polling centres, comprising 1,213 polling streams, opened at 8am today for the 16th Melaka state election.

Voting is scheduled to continue until 6pm, following the end of the 14-day campaign period at 11.59pm last night.

The EC said 675,166 ordinary voters are eligible to cast their ballots in the election.

The total number of registered voters is 687,697, including 12,531 military personnel, their spouses and police personnel who were eligible to vote during the early voting phase on Tuesday.

Early voting was conducted at 31 polling centres, with 9,417 of the 9,917 eligible voters casting their ballots in person, representing a turnout of 94.96 per cent.

Another 2,614 voters cast their ballots by post.

Pakatan Harapan (PH) is fielding the most candidates, contesting 24 seats, followed by Barisan Nasional (BN) with 23, Parti Bersama Malaysia with 16, Parti Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) with one and three independents.

Bersatu, a component of Perikatan Nasional (PN), is contesting seven seats under its own logo this time, separate from PN’s five candidates, who comprise two each from PAS and Parti Wawasan Negara and one from Gerakan.

The 79 candidates were confirmed following the nomination process on October 31.

The election follows the dissolution of the 15th Melaka State Legislative Assembly on September 23, with the consent of Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Mohd Ali Rustam.

In the previous state election on November 20, 2021, BN won 21 of the 28 seats, PH took five and Bersatu secured two under the BN banner.