JOHOR BAHRU, July 6 — A total of 24,751 early voters for the 16th Johor State Election are scheduled to cast their ballots tomorrow at 64 early polling centres statewide.

They comprise 12,041 military personnel and their spouses, and 12,710 police personnel and their spouses.

The 53 early polling centres for police personnel and 11 centres for military personnel will open simultaneously at 8 am.

For police personnel and their spouses, 12,067 will vote in person at the designated polling centres tomorrow, while another 643 will cast their ballots via postal votes.

To ensure a smooth early voting process, a total of 3,565 police personnel will be deployed, including 647 officers, 2,806 rank-and-file personnel and 112 civilian staff.

Their assignment includes security control at early polling centres, escort duties for ballot boxes, traffic control, crime-prevention patrols, operations room deployment, monitoring of strategic locations and law enforcement at all affected areas.

Early voting centres will close in stages tomorrow, between noon and 6 pm, depending on their location and the number of registered voters at each centre.

Among the polling centres that will close at noon are the Buloh Kasap Police Station, Segamat; Tenang Police Station, Labis; and Bandar Penawar Police Station, each of which has between six and 28 voters.

Meanwhile, the police’s early polling centre with the highest number of voters is the Federal Reserve Unit Hall No 2 at the Johor Police Headquarters for the Stulang state constituency with 1,338 people, followed by the KEMAS Preschool at the 6th General Operations Force Battalion in Bakri for the Bukit Naning state constituency, involving 927 voters.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) has forecast morning rain in the districts of Batu Pahat, Muar, Pontian and Tangkak, while fair weather is expected in the rest of the state.

The Johor state election will see 172 candidates contesting 56 seats, with polling to be held on Saturday (July 11).

For the latest updates on the 16th Johor State Election, visit https://prn.bernama.com/johor. — Bernama