Malaysia will be enforcing elections in six states on Aug 12, the Election Commission (EC) revealed on Wednesday. Early voting for safety personnel such as the army and police will happen on Aug 8. The nomination day for candidates is on July 29, allowing for a 14-day campaign period. A total of 245 assembly seats will be enforcing in Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. The state assemblies were publically dissolved from June 22 to July 1. EC chairman Abdul Ghani Salleh said on Wednesday that exceeding than 9.7 million people are getting opportunity to cast their votes in the six state polls.
He also said that application for overseas postal voting, which has been open since June 15, will be shut down on Saturday. Domestic postal voting application will stop on July 26. Tan Sri Abdul Ghani have an idea that the six state elections will cost RM420 million (S$122 million). Analysts have an idea that the state polls will be a test of help for the unity government ruled by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, in which his Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition is dealing with former arch-rival Barisan Nasional (BN) for the first time. Costs have been rising for businesses, given that the ringgit has worn out against a basket of currencies since the starting of the year. On Wednesday, it closed at RM4.6538 against the US dollar.
On Monday, the police said action would be taken in opposition to political parties that touch on race, religion and royalty issues during the election campaign. Stressing that police officers will be leading the campaigning, Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain notified the parties to comply with rules and laws, especially those related to the Election Offences Act 1954 and the Sedition Act.