by ASILA JALIL / pic by BERNAMA

THE Election Commission (EC) has set Nov 20, 2021 as the polling date for Melaka’s 15th by-election following the dissolution of its state assembly on Oct 4.

Nomination day for the by-election will be on Nov 8 while early voting will be conducted on Nov 16, 2021.

In a statement today, EC chairman Datuk Abdul Ghani Salleh said the campaigning period will run for 12 days and will commence after the nominees have been named, until 11.59pm on Nov 19, 2021.

“A total of 12,290 officials will be appointed to manage the election process. There will be 248 polling stations with 1,156 polling channels.

“The 15th Melaka by-election is expected to require an allocation of RM46 million,” he said.

Application for postal votes will open on Oct 20, 2021 and will close on Nov 1, 2021 for Categories 1B (those living abroad) and 1C (nine agencies under safety and health sectors).

Applications for category 1A will close on Nov 3 which is mainly for election officials, EC members, armed forces and media practitioners.

“Postal votes application for Category 1B and Category 1C for the 15th by-election for the state of Melaka will be done online instead of the previous manual registration.

“Applicants need to have a registered account with MySPR Daftar before they can apply as a postal voter,” he said.

He advised applicants to apply before the opening date to avoid any difficulties on the day itself.

To ensure the state election will run smoothly, the EC has appointed 28 election management officials who will be supported by 80 other assistant management officials.

The EC also formed 28 election campaign enforcement groups to monitor the activities during the period.

“The EC targets 70% voter turnout. We also require cooperation from all parties including media practitioners and political parties to urge and encourage voters to show up and cast their votes on the day,” he said.

He added that the EC will extend the voting period on the day itself by an additional 30 minutes which is from 8am until 5.30pm.