KUALA LUMPUR: Votes for the 220 parliamentary seats are in the midst of being tabulated, with Sabah and Sarawak leading the unofficial count after polling centres in both East Malaysian states closed earlier at 5.30 pm.
As of 7.50 pm, several initial counts were displayed on the social media platforms of several political parties, including Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), who are leading in Sarikei, Sri Aman and Lawas, Perikatan Nasional (PN) in Beluran, Pakatan Harapan (PH) in Bandar Kuching and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) in Ranau.
Meanwhile, Barisan Nasional's (BN) social media communications platform, BN Comms, reported that as of 7.15 pm, Caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and BN deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan were both leading in the constituencies of Bera and Rembau respectively.
Polling centres opened at 8.00am in Peninsula Malaysia and closed at 6.00pm, while in Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal Territory of Labuan, voting began at 7.30am and closed between 11.00am and 5.30 pm.
Voting for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat will be held separately after the death of PH candidate and incumbent M. Karupaiya last Wednesday, while voting at 11 polling centres in Baram, Sarawak was suspended due to bad weather. -- Bernama