KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 — The 14th general election (GE14) will not be the first time polling has taken place on a weekday but it will be the first midweek election since the formation of Malaysia.

The Election Commission (EC) today announced that the national polls will take place on May 9, a Wednesday, raising concerns about the ability of out-of-state voters returning to their constituencies.

However, this is the fifth time an election has been held on a weekday in Malaysia, with the last time being the 1999 general election, which took place on a Monday, November 29.

Current Opposition leader Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was the prime minister during that time.

Weekday elections also happened two other times during Dr Mahathir’s 22 years as PM: the 1995 general election, which took place on Monday and Tuesday, April 24 and 25, and also the 1982 general election, which took place from Thursday to Monday, April 22-26.

Meanwhile, the last time an election took place on a Wednesday was back in 1959, during the country’s first-ever general election and before the formation of Malaysia.

The EC has targeted an 85 per cent voter turnout in the coming elections.

The 2013 general election, which saw a 84.8 per cent voter turnout, was held on May 5, a Sunday.