THE 14-day campaign period – for 222 parliamentary seats, 59 state seats in Perak, 42 seats in Pahang and 15 in Perlis, as well as Bugaya in Sabah – will end at 11.59pm tonight.

However, the status of Padang Serai has yet to be decided following the death of the Pakatan Harapan incumbent, M. Karupaiya.

The Election Commission (EC) will hold a meeting today to determine the next step.

Karupaiya was set to defend the seat against Hamzah Abd Rahman (Gerakan Tanah Air-Putra), C. Sivarajh (Barisan Nasional-MIC), Mohd Bakhri Hashim (Warisan), Azman Nasrudin (Perikatan Nasional-Bersatu) and Sreanandha Rao (Independent).

According to the EC’s previous statement, the commission will enforce subsection 26 (1) of the Election Offences Act 1954, which prohibits holding, calling or arranging any form of meeting, gathering, show, entertainment or giving public speeches.

The law also, among other things, prohibits the supply of any loudspeakers for political purposes as well as prohibiting the opening of offices or booths inside polling stations on polling day.

This election has seen 945 candidates from various parties standing for parliament, the highest number in the country’s history.

As of yesterday, police have issued a total of 2,148 ceramah permits nationwide.

Election operations director Hazani Ghazali said that 326 permits were issued in Sabah, followed by Pahang (300), Sarawak (293), Perak (221), Johor (208), Kedah (180), Kelantan (147), Selangor (112), Negri Sembilan (103), Malacca (94), Terengganu (89), Penang (40), Perlis (23), and Kuala Lumpur (12).

In addition, police also followed up on 20 complaints for a variety of offences including sedition, criminal threats, and damaging flags and banners.

Some 21.1 million eligible voters will go to the polls tomorrow. – Bernama, November 18, 2022.