THE Election Commission (EC) is looking at the possibility of allowing more than 60 days to hold elections after parliament or the state assembly is dissolved.

EC chairman Abdul Ghani Salleh said the extended period is to give the EC sufficient time to prepare for the elections because the number of voters is on the rise.

“We will try to extend the duration because currently the GE must be held within 60 days after parliament is dissolved. This duration (60 days) has been there for a long time but with the number of voters having increased tremendously, the 60-day period is short.

“We now have 21.1 million voters compared with 14.9 million previously. We must also take into consideration that 18-year-old voters will keep increasing yearly at a rate of 500,000. Therefore we need a longer period,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur last night.

Earlier, Ghani was at the Kulim Hi-Tech Sports Complex Hall where the Padang Serai election result was announced.

Ghani expressed hope that all six states that have yet to hold their state elections, would do it simultaneously.

“It will ease our process, the staff can coordinate everything better. I feel that will be good and in terms of cost, it will be the same,” he said.

He said it would cost about RM450 million to hold the election in six states – Kedah, Penang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Selangor and Negri Sembilan.

Ghani said polling for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat and Tioman state seat had progressed smoothly without any untoward incidents.

“The overall voter turnout of 74.71% is an indication that the people are responsible voters,” he said. – Bernama, December 8, 2022.