The 16th Melaka State Election

Last updated: August 2, 2026

What You Need to Know

The 16th Melaka State Election will take place on November 14, 2026, following the dissolution of the 15th Melaka State Legislative Assembly on September 23.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh announced the dissolution on September 22 after obtaining the consent of Melaka Governor Tun Mohd Ali Rustam. The 28-seat assembly’s term had been due to end on December 27, 2026.

Nominations took place on October 31, with the Election Commission (EC) confirming that 79 candidates will contest the 28 state seats. The 14-day campaign period began after the announcement of the contesting candidates that day and will end at 11.59pm on November 13. Early voting will take place on November 10.

A total of 687,697 voters are eligible to vote, comprising 675,166 ordinary voters, 9,769 military personnel and their spouses, and 2,762 police personnel.

Applications for all categories of domestic and overseas postal voting opened on September 23. The categories are:

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Category 1A: Eligible police and military personnel, election workers, Election Commission (EC) members and officers, and media personnel covering the election who cannot attend early voting or polling day.

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Category 1B: Malaysian voters residing abroad.

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Category 1C: Eligible personnel from designated agencies or organisations who cannot attend polling day because they are on duty.

Applications for Categories 1B and 1C closed on October 23, while the deadline for Category 1A was October 28.

EC chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun announced on October 7 that the commission had appointed 28 returning officers and 80 assistant returning officers. A total of 11,175 personnel will be appointed to manage the election.

The EC will also establish 28 Election Campaign Enforcement Teams (PP-KPR) to monitor campaign activities. These will include representatives from the Royal Malaysia Police, local authorities and contesting candidates.

There will be 28 nomination centres and 28 official vote-tallying centres.

A total of 271 polling centres with 1,263 polling channels will be opened. These comprise 31 early voting centres with 50 channels and 240 ordinary polling centres with 1,213 channels.

The estimated allocation for conducting the election is RM28.45 million.

On September 22, Melaka Police Chief Datuk Dzulkhairi Mukhtar said police had identified 3,150 personnel for deployment during the state election, including 1,500 reinforcements from outside the state.

Previously in Melaka: The 2021 State Election

Melaka last went to the polls on Nov 20, 2021, following the collapse of the state government when four assemblymen withdrew their support for then Chief Minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali.

The four were former Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron (BN-Sungai Udang), Datuk Nor Azman Hassan (BN-Pantai Kundor), Datuk Noor Effandi Ahmad (Bersatu-Telok Mas) and independent assemblyman Datuk Norhizam Hassan Baktee (Pengkalan Batu).

Barisan Nasional (BN) returned to power with 21 of the assembly’s 28 seats, giving it more than a two-thirds majority. UMNO contributed 18 seats, MCA two and MIC one.

Pakatan Harapan (PH) took five seats, comprising four won by DAP and one by Amanah. Perikatan Nasional (PN) won the remaining two.

The assembly’s composition later changed when N.06 Rembia assemblyman Datuk Muhammad Jailani Khamis left BN for PAS. According to PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, Jailani was accepted as a member on June 10, 2023.

N.24 Bemban assemblyman Dr Mohd Yadzil Yaakub, meanwhile, became an independent following his expulsion from Bersatu in February 2026 and subsequently joined Parti Wawasan Negara (WAWASAN). N.11 Sungai Udang assemblyman Dr Mohd Aleef Yusof also left Bersatu for WAWASAN, announcing his membership on October 2, 2026.

BN’s seat count fell to 20 following these developments, although it maintained a comfortable majority and continued to lead the state government.

PH’s Low Chee Leong recorded the largest winning majority in N.20 Kota Laksamana, securing the seat by 11,494 votes. The next-largest margins were in N.19 Kesidang, won by PH’s Seah Shoo Chin (Allex Seah) with a majority of 10,237 votes; N.22 Bandar Hilir, won by PH’s Leng Chau Yen (7,778); N.16 Ayer Keroh, won by PH’s Kerk Chee Yee (5,624); and N.27 Merlimau, won by BN’s Dr Akmal Saleh (3,248).

At the other end, BN’s Zaidi Attan won N.26 Serkam with the smallest majority of 79 votes. The next-smallest margins were in N.15 Pengkalan Batu, won by BN’s Datuk Kalsom Noordin with a majority of 131 votes; N.21 Duyong, won by BN’s Mohd Noor Helmy (200); N.24 Bemban, won by Dr Mohd Yadzil Yaakub on a PN ticket (328); and N.02 Tanjung Bidara, won by BN’s Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh (364).

Melaka 2026 Election Voter Statistics

Of the 687,697 registered voters, 675,166 are ordinary voters.

The remaining 12,531 are eligible for early voting, comprising 9,769 military personnel and their spouses, and 2,762 police personnel.

The state constituency of N.19 Kesidang has the largest electorate, with 54,910 registered voters. It is followed by N.13 Paya Rumput (46,521), N.16 Ayer Keroh (38,252), N.17 Bukit Katil (35,359) and N.20 Kota Laksamana (34,066).

N.05 Taboh Naning has the smallest electorate, with 11,299 registered voters.

According to the latest electoral roll, Melaka has 338,848 male voters, accounting for 49.27 percent of the electorate, and 348,849 female voters, accounting for 50.73 percent. Female voters outnumber male voters by 10,001.

N.11 Sungai Udang has the highest share of male voters within its electorate, at 57.65 percent. Female voters make up the remaining 42.35 percent.

By contrast, N.22 Bandar Hilir has the highest share of female voters, at 52.01 percent, while male voters account for 47.99 percent of its electorate.

Female voters outnumber male voters in 26 of Melaka’s 28 constituencies. The only exceptions are N.08 Machap Jaya and N.11 Sungai Udang.

In terms of age, voters aged 30 to 39 form the largest group, with 148,222 people. They are followed by those aged 60 and above (143,607), 21 to 29 (135,687), and 40 to 49 (124,686).

The two smallest groups are those aged 50 to 59 (94,357) and 18 to 20 (41,138).

Together, the 176,825 voters under the age of 30 account for 25.71 percent of the state’s electorate.

The age profile also differs from seat to seat. The percentages below show the share of a constituency’s electorate belonging to each age group.

N.11 Sungai Udang has the highest shares of voters aged 21 to 29 (27.09 percent) and 30 to 39 (28.77 percent).

It also has the lowest shares in all five age groups from 50 upwards: 50 to 59 (10.08 percent), 60 to 69 (5.78 percent), 70 to 79 (2.42 percent), 80 to 89 (0.59 percent) and 90 and above (0.08 percent).

By contrast, N.22 Bandar Hilir has the highest shares of voters in these five age groups: 50 to 59 (16.77 percent), 60 to 69 (18.31 percent), 70 to 79 (14.53 percent), 80 to 89 (5.64 percent) and 90 and above (1.62 percent).

Bandar Hilir also has the lowest shares of voters aged 18 to 20 (2.60 percent), 21 to 29 (10.07 percent) and 30 to 39 (14.01 percent).

Among the other constituencies, N.13 Paya Rumput has the highest share of voters aged 18 to 20, at 9.57 percent, but the lowest share of those aged 40 to 49, at 16.30 percent. N.15 Pengkalan Batu has the highest share of voters aged 40 to 49, at 19.75 percent.

The ethnic make-up of voters also varies from seat to seat. The percentages below show how large each group is within each constituency’s electorate.

N.02 Tanjung Bidara has the highest share of Malay voters, at 93.03 percent, while N.20 Kota Laksamana has the highest share of Chinese voters, at 75.25 percent.

N.07 Gadek has the highest share of Indian voters, at 17.21 percent.

N.11 Sungai Udang has the highest shares of both Bumiputera Sabah and Bumiputera Sarawak voters, at 4.29 percent and 6.49 percent, respectively.

N.05 Taboh Naning has the highest share of Orang Asli voters, at 2.76 percent, while N.22 Bandar Hilir has the highest share of voters in the “Others” category, at 7.15 percent.

Who’s Contesting in the 16th Melaka State Election?

A total of 79 candidates are contesting Melaka’s 28 state seats in the 2026 election, fewer than the 112 who competed in 2021.

PH is fielding the most candidates with 24, followed by BN with 23, Parti Bersama Malaysia (Bersama) with 16, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) with seven and PN with five.

The remaining candidates comprise one from Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (PUTRA) and three independents.

The election will see 11 straight fights, 11 three-cornered contests and six four-cornered contests.

Of the 79 candidates, 65 are men and 14 are women. By comparison, the 2021 election had 96 male candidates and 16 female candidates.

Although there are two fewer female candidates, women account for 17.72 percent of all candidates in 2026, up from 14.29 percent in 2021.

PH is fielding the most female candidates with six, followed by BN with four and Bersama with two. Bersatu is fielding one woman, while PUTRA’s sole candidate is also a woman.

Candidates aged 40 to 49 form the largest age group with 33, followed by those aged 50 to 59 (22), 30 to 39 (14), and 60 and above (8). Those aged 18 to 29 form the smallest group, with two candidates.

At 24, PH’s Muhammad Mukhlisul Mubin Julasapiyah is the youngest candidate and is contesting N.01 Kuala Linggi. The oldest is Mohamad Jaafar, 66, who is also representing PH and is contesting N.23 Telok Mas.

In the 2021 Melaka state election, the youngest candidate was Farzana Hayani Nasir, who contested N.28 Sungai Rambai for PH at the age of 21. The oldest was Datuk Kalsom Noordin, 68, who won N.15 Pengkalan Batu on a BN ticket.

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Early Voter Turnout

Early voting for the Negeri Sembilan 2026 state election began at 8am on July 28, 2026.

This year, 22,339 voters were eligible for early voting, comprising 16,884 military personnel and their spouses and 5,455 police personnel and their spouses.

Voting took place at 38 early voting centres across Negeri Sembilan.

In-person early voting on July 28 involved 16,467 voters, comprising 11,293 military personnel and their spouses, and 5,174 police personnel and their spouses. Another 5,872 early voters voted by post, comprising 5,591 military voters and 281 police voters.

The early polling centres closed in stages, with 18 closing at noon, two at 2pm, and the remaining 18 at 5pm.

Final early voter turnout stood at 91.06 percent, with 14,995 out of 16,467 in-person early voters casting their ballots.

Polling Day

As of 4pm, voter turnout stood at 65.38 percent, with 562,133 out of 859,760 voters having cast their ballots across 401 polling centres.

This was higher than the 61.89 percent recorded at the same time during the 2023 state election, when 518,737 out of 838,200 voters had cast their ballots.

BN won 18 of the 25 seats it contested, retaining the 14 seats it won during the 2023 state election. In 2026, BN flipped four seats – three from PH (N.01 Chennah, N.18 Pilah and N.36 Repah) and one seat from PN (N.20 Labu).

Meanwhile, PN won seven of the 11 seats it contested. The coalition retained four seats from the 2023 election (N.05 Serting, N.25 Paroi, N.31 Bagan Pinang and N.34 Gemas), lost N.20 Labu to BN and gained three seats previously under PH (N.04 Klawang, N.13 Sikamat and N.14 Ampangan).

PH won 11 of the 36 seats it contested in. All were seats previously won in the 2023 election. The 2026 election saw the loss of six seats it previously won in the 2023 election (as mentioned above).

Bersatu, Berjasa, ASLI, PSM and all Independent candidates failed to win any of the seats they contested.

The breakdown of the data is courtesy of Tindak Malaysia and the Election Commission.
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Report & Data Visualisation: Shaza Al Muzayen
Web Designer: Ummul Syuhaida Othman
Editor: Sakina Mohamed
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