KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 26 candidates forfeited their election deposits after failing to secure at least one-eighth of the total votes cast in the 16th Melaka election.
Parti Bersama Malaysia (Bersama) recorded the highest number of candidates losing their deposits, with 15 of its 16 candidates failing to secure the minimum number of votes required.
Bersatu saw five of its seven candidates lose their deposits, while Pakatan Harapan had two of its 24 candidates suffer the same fate.
Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra), which fielded one candidate in Gadek, and three independent candidates also failed to secure enough votes to retain their deposits.
Meanwhile, Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Rais Yasin secured the largest winning majority of 16,214 votes in Sungai Udang, defeating the Bersatu and Bersama candidates, who obtained 2,103 and 1,322 votes respectively.
Sungai Udang was among the closely watched seats in the Melaka election, with 22,195 of its 29,692 registered voters casting their ballots today.
BN candidate Datuk Ngwe Hee Sem, who secured 6,686 votes, recorded the smallest winning majority in a three-cornered contest for the Machap Jaya state seat against PH’s Datuk Ginie Lim Siew Lin and Bersama’s Prasanth Kumar Brakasam.
Ngwe retained the seat, which he won with a majority of 938 votes in the 2021 Melaka election.