KOTA KINABALU, Sabah: The 17th Sabah State Election will be held on November 29, the Election Commission announced today.
EC Chairman, Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun, said the nomination for the polls will be on November 15 and early voting on November 25.
“Over 1,784,843 million eligible voters will carry out their responsibilities (in the 17th Sabah State Election),” he told a press conference after chairing a special meeting for the polls at the Sabah Federal Government Administrative Complex here today.
On October 6, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor announced the dissolution of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly to pave the way for the State polls.
The Sabah State Assembly comprises 79 seats, 73 of which are elected, while six are appointed members.
Ramlan said the EC will mobilise 33,002 personnel to facilitate the State election.
He added that 940 polling centres, with 3,645 voting streams, will be used during the election, involving 882 regular polling centres with 3,558 voting streams, while 58 polling centres with 87 voting streams will be provided for early voting.
“The 17th Sabah State Election will need an estimated allocation of RM116.8 million,” he said.
He said the EC will appoint 25 returning officers to carry out the election process, with the support of 196 assistant returning officers.
The EC, he added, will set up 86 election campaign enforcement teams comprising representatives from the police, local authorities, and the candidates standing for election.
“It is aimed at monitoring election campaign activities throughout the official campaigning period,” he said, adding that 25 nomination centres and vote tallying centres would be used during the election.
Ramlan said the electoral roll that will be used for the election this time is the August 2025 Supplementary Electoral Roll, which was updated up to October 5, involving 1,784,843 voters.
They comprise 1,760,417 ordinary voters, 11,697 military personnel and their spouses, and 12,729 police personnel and their spouses.
When met after the press conference, Ramlan assured that the 17th Sabah State Election on November 29 will not disrupt the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination process, which is slated to begin on November 25.
He added that they had taken into account all logistical aspects to ensure there is no overlap of locations between the polling centres and examination centres.
“The voting process will be held on Saturday. Insya-Allah, it will not disrupt the SPM examination,” he said, adding that the campaign period will run for 14 days after the nomination of candidates, from November 15 up to 11:59 pm on November 28.
Commenting on proposals for Sabah voters in the Peninsula to be allowed to cast postal votes, Ramlan said the EC has yet to finalise the matter.
“For now, Sabah voters who are not in Sabah will have to go back. Come back here to vote,” he said. – BERNAMA
