Melaka polls: 9.42 per cent turnout recorded as of 9am

As of 9am today, 9.42 per cent of ordinary voters in the Melaka state election had cast their ballots, with 64,668 voters recorded according to the Election Commission's real-time dashboard, according to the New Straits Times. A total of 240 polling centres and 1,213 polling streams opened at 8am for the 16th Melaka state election.

There are 675,166 eligible ordinary voters, while the total number of registered voters is 687,697, which includes 12,531 military personnel, their spouses, and police personnel. The Election Commission is targeting a 70 per cent turnout.

The election features 79 candidates contesting 28 state seats. Malay Mail reports that Pakatan Harapan has 24 candidates, followed by Barisan Nasional with 23, Parti Bersama Malaysia with 16, Bersatu with seven, Perikatan Nasional with five, Parti Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia with one, and three independents. During early voting, which concluded on Nov 10, 9,417 voters or 94.96 per cent of the 9,917 eligible military and police personnel cast their ballots, with an additional 2,614 voters participating by post, according to Malay Mail.

Free Malaysia Today notes that some view the results as a foregone conclusion following the confirmed alliance between Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional. James Chin of the University of Tasmania told FMT that a "Malay tsunami" is coming, suggesting the pact between the two coalitions will consolidate the Malay vote.

Brief written by urgent.news from New Straits Times, Malay Mail, Free Malaysia Today — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.