WHEN six states dissolve their respective State Legislative Assembly (DUN) in June, the cost of holding the state election (PRN) is predicted to exceed half a billion ringgit, or over RM576 mil.
The six states that have agreed to dissolve the DUN in the final two weeks of June are Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Pulau Pinang, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu.
Based on the expenditure of Johor’s PRN on March 12 of last year, the anticipated cost of the expenditure came to RM96 mil for the Election Commission (EC) to oversee the PRN’s journey through 56 state assembly seats with a total of 2.597 million voters.
Only Selangor, with 3,725,443 voters, had more voters than Johor, but it only had 22 state assembly constituencies.
Following this were the states of Kedah, with 1,575,805 voters and 36 state assembly constituencies; Kelantan with 1.4 million voters and 45 constituencies; and Penang with 1,277,483 voters and 40 constituencies.
Less than one million voters were registered in just two states: Terengganu (922,101 voters, 32 state assembly constituencies) and Negri Sembilan (850,865 voters, 36 state assembly constituencies).
The implementation of automated voter registration for adults (18 and over), which is certified and gazetted every mid-month, will, nevertheless result in a monthly increase in the number of voters.
In addition to costs for the development of information and communication technology (ICT), staff allowances, and other related requirements, the EC’s operational expenditure costs are also taken into consideration. These costs include logistics requirements, network systems, and staff support equipment.
The cost of implementing the state polls of these six states may no longer take into account the management costs involving standard operating procedures (SOP) for the prevention of the epidemic as implemented during the state polls of Sabah, Sarawak, and Melaka since the country is now in the endemic period of COVID-19.
The government previously allocated RM420 mil to execute four state polls, including RM130 mil for the Sabah state polls, RM45 mil for the Melaka state polls, RM149 mil for the Sarawak state polls, and RM96 mil for the Johor state polls. — March 2, 2023
