By MIKE PAUL
MELAKA, Nov 14 – Early, unofficial counts in the 16th Melaka state election show Barisan Nasional (BN) ahead in 20 of the 28 seats, with Pakatan Harapan (PH) leading in five and Perikatan Nasional (PN) in three, although only a small share of votes had been tallied.
The figures, from Astro AWANI’s live results tracker and updated between 6.37pm and 7.38pm, cover about 105,600 votes, or roughly 15 per cent of the 687,697 registered voters. All 28 seats were still marked as unofficial. The Election Commission (EC) expects to declare the first official result by 9.30pm.
The early pattern resembles the 2021 result, when BN won 21 seats, PH five and PN two. Kosmo separately reported that a results board at BN’s command centre showed the BN-PN partners ahead in 24 seats and PH in four as of 7.25pm.
Four seats showing a different leader from 2021
In four seats, the party in front differs from the 2021 winner. In Sungai Udang, won by PN in 2021, BN’s Rais Yasin had 92.2 per cent of the 7,643 votes counted. In Paya Rumput, a BN seat in 2021, PN’s Rafie Ahmad led by 172 votes.
In Kelebang, held by BN’s Lim Ban Hong in 2021, PH’s Farzana Hayani Mohd Nasir was ahead by 41 votes out of only 315 counted. In Bukit Katil, held by PH’s Adly Zahari in 2021, PN’s Muhammad Ridzuan Mohd Sarif led with 462 of 598 votes counted.
All four leads rest on partial counts, and three of them on less than six per cent of registered voters.
City seats stay with PH
PH was ahead in the four urban seats it held in 2021: Kota Laksamana, Ayer Keroh, Bandar Hilir and Kesidang. Kota Laksamana’s Low Chee Leong had 74.5 per cent with about a third of votes counted, while Bandar Hilir’s Leng Chau Yen had 76 per cent.
These are also the seats that recorded some of the lowest turnout today, with Bandar Hilir the lowest in the state. BN’s early leads were concentrated in seats such as Serkam, Merlimau and Rim, where its candidates held between 75 and 85 per cent of the counted vote.
The closest contests
Machap Jaya was the tightest seat with a substantial count. With nearly 39 per cent of votes tallied, BN’s Ngwe Hee Sem had 51.8 per cent against PH’s Ginie Lim Siew Lin on 45.6 per cent, a gap of 385 votes.
Pantai Kundor showed a 31-vote BN lead over Bersatu’s Asmah Samat from 583 votes, while Sungai Rambai had only 107 votes counted. Bersama, contesting 16 seats, was trailing in every seat it contested, with its highest share under 15 per cent.
Why caution is needed
Counting progress varied widely, from under one per cent of registered voters in Sungai Rambai to almost 39 per cent in Machap Jaya. In 11 seats, less than 10 per cent of voters had been counted. Leads in those seats can still change as more polling stations report.
Turnout closed at 70.59 per cent. Read TNS News’ earlier report on polling day and the results timeline, and our guide to five seats to watch. Official results are published by the Election Commission.
– TNS News
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