BN bags 48 seats in landslide win, Harapan retains 8

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12am - This wraps up Malaysiakini's live coverage of the Johor 2026 state election results.

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No Johor MB announcement tonight

11.30pm - A new Johor menteri besar is not expected to be sworn in tonight after BN captured 48 seats in the just-concluded state election, eight more than its previous haul in 2022.

Malaysiakini understands that BN will only head to the palace tomorrow morning for an audience.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi led a final press conference with caretaker menteri besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi and other BN leaders at around 11pm before leaving to cheers from supporters.

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Bersama lost all deposits, Rafizi confirms

11.20pm - Rafizi Ramli confirms that all of Parti Bersama Malaysia’s candidates have lost their deposits and that the party has failed to reach its target of obtaining at least 15 percent of the vote share in the contest for each seat.

“Information so far shows that Bersama candidates received an average of between three and six percent of the vote,” he says in a statement.

Citing initial analysis of the polls, he notes a significant shift of votes to BN across all demographic categories, which affected all other parties, including Pakatan Harapan, Perikatan Nasional, and Muda.

He says Bersama will further refine data from the voting results to aid the party in winning more votes in future elections.

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BN improves 2022 tally by 8

10.15pm - A resurgent BN has retained control of Johor by winning 48 seats - eight more than it won in the last state election in March 2022.

Pakatan Harapan, which now makes up the only opposition in Johor, won eight seats, down from the 12 it held in the last state assembly.

The other major coalition, Perikatan Nasional, was wiped out from all three seats it once held.

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Stulang remains with DAP

10pm - DAP has retained Stulang, according to Pakatan Harapan sources, while BN claims it has captured Bukit Batu from Harapan component party PKR.

Unofficial results show that DAP polled 17,620 votes in Stulang to BN’s 16,937.

In Bukit Batu, BN polled 16,489 votes while Harapan trailed with 16,334.

Unofficial results show that the ballots in all seats have been counted.

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BN snatches Perling after seesaw battle

9.30pm - The Pakatan Harapan stronghold of Perling has been conceded to BN, according to a Harapan source.

As of press time, BN is leading by 1,830 votes in a close contest which saw the total tally flip between BN and Harapan several times during the night.

As of press time, unofficial results show that BN polled 33,556 votes while Harapan received 31,726.

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READ MORE: MIC makes clean sweep, stuns DAP in Perling stronghold

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Amanah keeps Simpang Jeram

9.15pm - Amanah has won its first seat in the state polls by holding on to Simpang Jeram by 180 votes.

The Pakatan Harapan component member polled 11,830 ballots to BN’s 11,650.

In the 2022 state election, Harapan won the constituency by 2,399 votes.

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Which way will Perling go?

9pm - In a turn of events, Pakatan Harapan has closed the gap with BN in Perling, but the seat is being hotly contested.

DAP momentarily took the lead, before BN came back ahead with a slim 250-vote margin.

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Maszlee set to bag PKR’s first seat

8.45pm - PKR is on track to win its first seat in the state election as it is leading in Puteri Wangsa.

Unofficial results show that PKR’s Maszlee Malik, an ex-education minister, has polled 32,876 votes, while his closest rival Teow Chia Ling of BN has 28,463 votes.

In Bukit Batu, where PKR is the incumbent, the race is neck-and-neck with BN in the lead.

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BN wins back voters and more

8.40pm - BN appeared to have captured Perling, another Pakatan Harapan stronghold, by polling over 27,300 votes, almost double the support it received in 2022, according to unofficial results.

In 2022, BN only managed 15,281 votes while Perikatan Nasional garnered 8,829 ballots.

This latest outing suggests that BN managed to retain its support, garner all of PN’s old votes and win about 3,000 more votes.

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Bersama on track to lose all deposits

8.30pm - Parti Bersama Malaysia loses its deposit in three seats - Tiram, Bukit Naning, and Permas - and is expected to do the same in seven more.

They include Puteri Wangsa, Johor Jaya, Stulang, Perling, Skudai, Bukit Permai, and Senai.

In Puteri Wangsa, Muda outperformed Bersama with 4,548 votes against its 1,933.

Bersama is contesting 15 seats in total.

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Quiet affair at Harapan base

8.15pm - In an apparent contrast to the festivities at Johor Umno's headquarters, all is quiet on the Pakatan Harapan front at its base in Pulai Springs Resort.

Supporters numbering around 100 had gathered since 6pm to witness the unofficial results.

A few leaders were spotted among the crowd, including Health Minister Dzulkelfy Ahmad, Deputy Higher Education Minister Adam Adli, and Tebrau MP Jimmy Puah.

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Unofficial: BN wins 31 seats, enough to form govt

8.10pm - BN has captured enough seats to form the next Johor government, according to an unofficial tally.

As of press time, the incumbent ruling government has won 31 out 56 seats, thus giving it the ability to form a state government with a simple majority.

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PN loses two seats to BN

8.05pm - Perikatan Nasional has failed to defend two of its incumbent seats, one of which, Bukit Kepong, had been represented by ex-menteri besar Sahruddin Jamal.

PN lost Bukit Kepong to BN which polled 10,963 votes. Sahruddin, from Bersatu, had obtained 4,037 votes. In the last state election, Sahruddin had polled 9,873 votes.

In Maharani, BN polled 6,880 votes to PN’s 3,539. In the last state election, PN had won Maharani by garnering 7559 votes.

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Ahmad Maslan regales with pantun

8pm - Umno supreme council member Ahmad Maslan did not miss the chance to share several verses of his very own pantun (poem).

Known for his affinity with rhymes, Ahmad was quick to share two verses he appeared to come up with on the fly while visiting media personnel at the Johor Umno headquarters.

"Pemimpin mahir lagi tersohor,
sampin songket keris warisan.
Umno lahir di negeri Johor, Umno bangkit menangkan Barisan.

”Apa ada pada kucing, semua sayang semua kenal.
Apa ada pada dacing, itu lambang Barisan Nasional."

The deputy works minister's poetic side came as hyped-up BN supporters celebrated their apparent lead in several state seats, with Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki announcing unofficial results thus far.

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Second upset win for BN in Jementah

7.55pm - BN is on track to score another upset by capturing Jementah from Pakatan Harapan, according to unofficial results.

BN has polled 8,272 votes to Harapan’s 4,409, while Perikatan Nasional secured 1,844 votes.

This is in addition to Tangkak, a former Harapan seat called in BN’s favour earlier.

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Harapan likely to net Bentayan, Tangkak falls to MCA

7.30pm - Pakatan Harapan is on track to win its first seat in the polls, Bentayan, as its candidate has won 9,094 votes as compared to its closest rival, BN.

An unofficial tally showed that BN is trailing with 5,360 votes in Bentayan.

However, MCA has captured Tangkak from DAP after its candidate polled 8,260 votes to Harapan’s 5,468 at press time.

BN has also won Bekok by polling 9,924 votes to Harapan’s 5,874. 

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Tenggaroh, Yong Peng likely first to be called

7.25pm - Tenggaroh and Yong Peng are very likely to be the first two seats to be announced as BN is on track to capture these two constituencies in the Johor polls.

The unofficial tally puts BN’s candidate at 8,027 in Tenggaroh and 6,981 votes in Yong Peng.

In Tenggaroh, BN’s main rivals, Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional, are trailing by 1,007 and 1,917, respectively.

In Yong Peng, Harapan is trailing BN with 5,151 votes.

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DAP, BN closely matched in 2 seats so far

7pm - The early race for Mengkibol, a DAP seat, is neck-and-neck according to unofficial results, with BN leading with 2,727 votes and Harapan following closely with 2,664 votes.

Tangkak, another DAP seat, is also neck-and-neck so far, with BN leading with 1,406 votes against Harapan’s 1,337.

BN is also maintaining an early lead in Bekok with 3,154 votes against 2,254.  

Perling is also being hotly contested, with DAP ahead with 3,260 votes while MCA has 2,635. Bersama is trailing in Perling with just 308 votes so far.

DAP is performing better in Skudai, leading with 1,950 while BN has 1,080 votes. Bersama is also trailing here with just 78 votes, with PSM close behind with 48 votes.

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Unofficial: BN leading in 41 seats, Harapan ahead in 9

6.50pm - BN claims that it is leading in 41 out of 56 seats where votes are starting to be counted according to unofficial results.

Its main rival Pakatan Harapan is leading in nine seats, according to an unofficial tally from the Johor BN operations room.

Cheers of “Maju Johor” erupted from Umno members as its secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki announced the results.

According to an unofficial tally from another source, BN appears to be leading even in Harapan strongholds such as Mengkibol, Johor Jaya and Bentayan.

Bentayan and Mengkibol were among the seats that BN lost in the 2008 political tsunami when the then ruling coalition lost control of five states for the first time in history.

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Early lead for MCA in Paloh, Johor Jaya

6.40pm - MCA is taking a wide early lead in Paloh and Johor Jaya against DAP according to unofficial results.

In Paloh, with seven out of 53 polling streams counted, BN has over 1,200 votes while Harapan has just 178, with Perikatan Nasional trailing with 44 votes.

In Johor Jaya, BN has over 1,300 votes against 387 for Pakatan Harapan. Parti Bersama Malaysia is trailing here with just 20 votes so far.

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Turnout in BN strongholds higher than Harapan areas

6.25pm - Malaysiakini compared the 5pm voter turnout rates the Election Commission released and found that the turnout in BN strongholds was higher than in constituencies held by Pakatan Harapan.

As of 5pm, the three constituencies with the highest voter turnout were: Sri Medan with 77.2 percent, Semarang with 76.8 percent and Sedili with 74.3 percent.

This is close to the turnout these constituencies saw during the November 2022 general election, which were at 80.1 percent, 79.7 percent, and 77.1 percent respectively.

In contrast, the two of three constituencies with the lowest voter turnout as of 5pm were Harapan seats Stulang (60.5 percent) and Perling (60.6 percent), while Bekok - held by BN - was the lowest at 58.9 percent.

For comparison, the turnout rates for these three areas during the 2022 general election were 66.2 percent for Stulang, 69.3 percent for Perling and 67.8 percent for Bekok.

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Zahid takes a turn at the wok

6.10pm - BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi briefly demonstrates his culinary abilities by frying some noodles, cheered on by a small crowd of onlookers at the Johor Umno headquarters.

After chatting with media personnel gathered at the party's headquarters for a live viewing of the polls' unofficial results, Zahid, who is also the deputy prime minister, opted to put his own touch on the food prepared for attendees.

The Umno president was also briefly accompanied by Umno supreme council member and Higher Education Minister Zambry Abd Kadir.

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Numbers start trickling in

6.05pm - Unofficial counts for votes in seats that DAP is contesting are trickling in.

However, they account for less than 1 percent of total votes expected for each respective seat.

Malaysiakini will wait for more substantive numbers before declaring who is taking an early lead.

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Good turnout

6pm - Turnout for the Johor election as of 5pm is at 67 percent.

It's not clear whether the Election Commission will release the 6pm figures before all the results are out - as is usual practice.

However, projections for a 70 percent turnout target is more than likely at this point.

The turnout indicates that the number of non-Malays who have decided to skip the polls may be marginal, as only 53 percent of Johor's voters are Malay and not all are active voters.

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READ MORE: Johor polls: Voter turnout exceeds 67pct at 5pm, higher than 2022