Malaysia election 2022: 65 per cent turnout at 3pm, nation readies for vote count

Malaysia’s 15th general election, amid surging inflation and fears of deadly floods in the monsoon season, is likely to be the most hotly contested vote ever

Around 12.3 million people had already voted at 2pm, close to the total recorded during the 2018 election. There are six million new voters this year.

Reading Time:5 minutes

Malaysians queue to cast their vote in the general election at Permatang Pauh, Penang state, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:59am, 19 Nov 2022Updated: 11:31am, 20 Nov 2022

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing.

Updates to this rolling story has now ended. Follow our liveblog for the latest on the vote count from 6pm.

Millions of Malaysians cast their ballots on Saturday to choose who will earn the right to lead the country over the next five years, in a stiff contest that was called ahead of time amid concerns of rising living costs tied to surging inflation and fears of a repeat of deadly floods from a year ago.

This will be Malaysia’s 15th general election and it is likely to be the most hotly contested that the country has ever seen, with the Umno-led Barisan Nasional coalition jockeying for position against two others: the multiracial Pakatan Harapan and the Malay nationalist Perikatan Nasional.

A record 21 million people are registered to vote this year, an increase of 6 million, or about 40 per cent from the 2018 polls. The growth can be contributed to parliament lowering the minimum voting age to 18 years and approving automatic voter registration.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Ismail Sabri (centre) queues before casting his vote at a polling station in Pahang state. Photo: AFP

National polls were called well ahead of the Q3 2023 deadline after Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob dissolved parliament in October, succumbing to persistent pressure to call for an early election from his Umno party, in their bid to reclaim national power after strong victories in two state polls over the past year.