Johor polls: 239 candidates qualified to contest

Election Commission (EC) chairman Datuk Abdul Ghani Salleh said none of the nomination papers received during the nomination process was rejected.

"The 239 candidates comprise 202 were and 37 women," he told a press conference at Persada Johor here after the conclusion of the nomination process.

There are 2.5 million registered voters who would cast their votes at the polls which involved 56 state seats.

Abdul Ghani said the oldest candidate is 71 years old, representing Perikatan Nasional (PN) in Bukit Permai, while two youngest candidates, aged 26, will be contesting in Mengkibol and Tangkak, representing Barisan Nasional (BN) and Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang), respectively.

There are eight candidates aged below 30 contesting in the state polls, while 52 candidates are in their 30s, 72 candidates in their 40s, 64 candidates in their 50s, and 43 others aged 60 and above.

BN and PN are fielding 56 candidates each, followed by Pakatan Harapan (30), Pejuang (42), PKR (20), Bebas (16), Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) (seven), Parti Warisan (six), Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) (four), and Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) (one) and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) (one).

The campaign period for the state polls starts right after the nomination until 11.59 pm on March 11.

Meanwhile, EC in a statement also said that it had set up 56 Election Campaign Enforcement Teams to monitor the activities of candidates during the campaign period.

It said the standard operating procedures (SOP) for the state election to curb the spread of COVID-19 had been approved and will be strictly implemented during the entire process.

Details on the SOP are available at the EC portal at spr.gov.my.