The Johor state legislative assembly was dissolved on June 1, 2026, with consent from the Regent of Johor, Tunku Mahkota Ismail. The Negri Sembilan state legislative assembly was dissolved on June 5, following a June 4 announcement, with consent from Yang Dipertuan Besar Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir [1, 2, 3].
The Election Commission (EC) held a special meeting on June 12, chaired by Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun, to set key election dates for both states [1]. Johor’s state election polling day is scheduled for July 11, with nomination day on June 27 and early voting on July 7 [4, 5, 6]. Negri Sembilan’s polling day will be August 1, with nomination day July 18 and early voting July 28 [7, 8, 5]. The campaign period for Negri Sembilan runs from July 18 to July 31 [7].
Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun said Negri Sembilan’s dissolution was sudden and preparations were incomplete, with only ballot boxes ready. He explained, “If we were to hold both elections simultaneously, we simply would not have enough time to make the necessary preparations.” The EC will complete Johor’s election preparations first before moving teams to assist with the Negri Sembilan polls [9, 2, 10].
Negri Sembilan has 889,490 registered voters, including 867,151 ordinary voters and thousands of military and police voters [7, 8]. The state will have 439 polling centres and 1,738 polling streams. The EC will deploy 15,344 election workers there [7, 8]. The estimated cost of the Negri Sembilan election is RM80.6 million, while Johor’s election is expected to cost RM86.8 million. The combined cost totals RM167.4 million [6].
Applications for all categories of domestic and overseas postal voting for Negri Sembilan opened on June 12. The deadline for postal applications is July 10 for overseas voters and July 15 for election workers, police, military, EC members, and media [7]. The EC has appointed eight returning officers and 95 assistant returning officers for the Negri Sembilan election. Thirty-six election campaign enforcement teams, including police and local authorities, will monitor campaign activities [7, 8].
The Johor state assembly has 56 seats and Negri Sembilan has 36 seats. In the 2022 Johor election, Barisan Nasional won 40 seats, Pakatan Harapan 12, and Perikatan Nasional 4. In the last Negri Sembilan election, Pakatan Harapan won 17 seats, Barisan Nasional 14, and Perikatan Nasional 5; PH and BN formed the government [1, 11, 7, 3, 6].
On the legality of Negri Sembilan’s assembly dissolution, Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun said it is outside the EC’s jurisdiction but the commission obtained legal advice from the Attorney-General’s Chambers and found no issues [2, 10].
Nomination day for Johor is June 27, followed by early voting on July 7 before polling on July 11 [4, 5, 6]. Negri Sembilan will hold nomination day on July 18, early voting on July 28, and polling on August 1 [7, 8, 5].
