KOTA KINABALU, Oct 16 — The 17th Sabah election will be held on November 29, the Election Commission (EC) announced today.
Its chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun said nominations will be on November 15, with early voting on November 25.
“Over 1,784,843 million eligible voters will carry out their responsibilities (in the 17th Sabah 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 assembly comprises 79 seats, 73 representatives for which are elected, while six are appointed.
Ramlan added that the EC will mobilise 33,002 personnel to facilitate the election.
Around 940 polling centres with 3,645 voting streams will be activated during the election, including 58 polling centres with 87 voting streams for early voting.
“The 17th Sabah election will need an estimated allocation of RM116.8 million,” Ramlan said.
The commission will appoint 25 returning officers and 196 assistant returning officers, and set up 86 election campaign enforcement teams.
"It is aimed at monitoring election campaign activities throughout the official campaigning period,” Ramlan said, noting that 25 nomination centres and vote-tallying centres would be used during the election.
The Electoral Roll that will be used for the state polls 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.
Speaking after the press conference, Ramlan assured that the Sabah election will not disrupt the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) exam, which is set to start on November 25.
He said the EC has taken all logistical aspects into account to ensure no overlap of locations between polling and exam centres.
“The voting will be held on a Saturday. God willing, it will not disrupt the SPM exam,” Ramlan said.
Campaigning is allowed for 14 days after nominations on November 15 to 11.59pm on November 28.
Commenting on proposals for Sabah voters on the peninsula to be allowed to cast postal votes, he said the EC has yet to decide on the matter.
"For now, Sabah voters who are not in Sabah will have to … come back here to vote,” Ramlan said.
