PONTIAN, July 10 — The Election Commission (EC) expects voter turnout for tomorrow’s Johor state election to reach around 70 per cent, driven by strong public interest in participating in the democratic process.

EC chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun said the projection was based on the response during the campaign period, which reflected the public’s enthusiasm to fulfil their responsibilities as voters.

“We have observed a trend indicating that interest in voting this time is relatively high. With the ongoing campaigns, the EC expects turnout could reach around 70 per cent,” he told reporters here today.

He said apart from the vibrant campaigning, public awareness of the importance of the electoral process was also a contributing factor to the projection.

“I think there has been a high level of enthusiasm among the people recently, as well as interest in being involved in this process,” he said.

Ramlan said about 2.7 million registered voters are eligible to cast their ballots in this Johor state election.

He said voting would begin at 8 am, with polling centres closing at different times depending on their locations, while most centres would close at 6 pm.

“Some will close at 11 am, with the earliest being on Pulau Besar, which is about half an hour from Mersing. At noon, there are two locations, namely Pulau Aur and Pulau Pemanggil.

“There are 17 centres that will close at 2 pm, 42 centres at 4 pm, and 1,114 centres at 6 pm tomorrow,” he said.

He said 43,036 election workers had been mobilised to oversee the voting process, while 24,677 postal ballot papers had been issued and must be received by the EC before 6 pm tomorrow.

Ramlan said the EC had also given an assurance that logistical arrangements, including the transportation of ballot boxes from island areas, had been meticulously planned with contingency measures in place, with the cooperation of the police and the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) to address any unforeseen circumstances.

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