Early voting for the 16th Negeri Sembilan state election proceeded smoothly on July 28, with 38 centres opening at 8 a.m. for 22,339 Malaysian Armed Forces and Royal Malaysian Police personnel and their spouses to cast ballots [1, 2, 3].
Of the registered early voters, 16,884 were military personnel and spouses who voted at 8 military centres, while 5,455 police personnel and spouses voted at 30 police centres [1, 3]. The early voting centres closed in phases: 18 centres at noon, 2 more by 2 p.m., and the final 18 centres closed at 5 p.m. to end the early voting process [4, 5, 6, 7].
Voter turnout steadily increased through the day. By 9 a.m., about 14.31% of early voters had cast their ballots, including 1,431 military and 925 police personnel and spouses [8]. At 10 a.m., turnout rose to 34.2%, reaching 53.26% by 11 a.m., involving 5,566 military and 3,205 police voters plus spouses [9, 4]. By 1 p.m., turnout climbed to 80.79% with 8,894 military and 4,409 police early voters having cast their votes [5].
The final turnout was reported at 91.06% among 16,467 eligible in-person early voters – exceeding the Election Commission’s target of 90% and demonstrating strong engagement from security forces voters [6, 7]. Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun, caretaker Menteri Besar, expressed appreciation for the smooth process, saying, "Alhamdulillah, this morning we saw that many voters have come forward to fulfil their responsibilities, and I would like to express my appreciation to the police here for ensuring that the democratic process can be carried out smoothly" [2].
Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun, Election Commission (EC) chairman, noted intense campaigning and expressed hope for robust turnout in the main poll, while acknowledging factors limiting full participation, saying, "We cannot realistically expect a 100 per cent turnout. There are factors beyond our control, including cases involving divorced spouses" [9, 10]. EC secretary Datuk Khairul Shahril Idrus thanked the Negeri Sembilan State Secretary’s Office, Royal Malaysian Police, Malaysian Armed Forces, media, and others for cooperation supporting the EC [6].
A total of 103 candidates are contesting 36 state seats in the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly election [1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 7]. The main polling day is set for August 1, with approximately 867,151 to 889,490 registered ordinary voters expected to cast ballots [1, 4, 6].
The next key event is the main polling on August 1 to decide the composition of the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly.
