Polling ends at 6pm, counting begins to elect new Johor govt
Johor Bahru - Polling for the 56 seats in the Johor state election ended at 6 pm today. A minimum of 29 seats are needed to win a simple majority and 38 seats for two-thirds.
As of 5 pm, Election Commission announced 50 per cent voter turnout compared to 74 per cent turnout in 2018 polls. Some of the polling stations in Johor Bahru were reported to be empty by 4.30 pm.
Pakatan Harapan, Muda, PKR had said a low voter turnout could pose a problem as it may favour BN.
Perikatan Nasional's Muhyiddin Yassin had urged Johor’s 2.53 million voters to cast their vote, the low turnout would not reflect the true sentiments of the people. He said if the rakyat wants a change, they will have to vote.
The poor turnout comes despite a two-week campaign that ended last night in a frenzy of activity as political parties push hard to woo and secure every vote as they face intense multiple cornered fights. Johor sets a record with 7 cornered fights in two seats, while 6 cornered fights (4 seats), 5 cornered (8 seats), 4 cornered fights (35 seats).
There are no straight fights.
Johor also records its first for Undi18 voters and automatic registration voters (AVR).
Some 239 candidates contested, from 26 to 71 years old are contesting today.
There were a total of 1,021 polling stations that opened their doors from 8 am.
This is the fourth election to be held during Covid 19 pandemic. Last year, there were Sabah, Melaka and Sarawak polls.
The Johor elections were triggered after the death of an assemblyman, Osman Sapian, in late December. The former chief minister's death meant the coalition Hasni led had a majority of just one seat in the 56-member state assembly.
There are also speculations over general elections if BN does well tonight.
Stay tuned for our live coverage.
