2016 Sarawak state election

2016 Sarawak state election

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All 82 seats in the Legislative Assembly 42 seats needed for a majority
Registered	1,138,650
Turnout	70.01%
Majority party Minority party   Leader Adenan Satem Chong Chieng Jen Party PBB DAP Alliance Barisan Nasional Pakatan Harapan Leader since 1 March 2014 10 June 2013 Leader's seat Tanjong Datu Kota Sentosa Last election 55 seats, 55.36% New[nb 1] Seats before 55 14 Seats won 72 10 Seat change 17 4 Popular vote 474,953 230,309 Percentage 62.19% 30.16% Swing 6.83 pp 9.63 pp
Chief Minister before election Adenan Satem BN–PBB Chief Minister-designate Adenan Satem BN–PBB

The eleventh Sarawak state election was held on Saturday, 7 May 2016 after nomination for candidates on Monday, 25 April 2016. The 82 members of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly, were elected in single-member constituencies using first-past-the-post voting. More than 1.1 million who had their names entered or retained in an electoral register for a particular electoral district in Sarawak was eligible to vote at the time of the election. Malaysia does not practice compulsory voting and automatic voter registration. The voting age is 21 although the age of majority in the country is 18. The election was conducted by the Election Commission of Malaysia.

The Sarawak State Legislative Assembly would automatically dissolve on 20 June 2016, the fifth anniversary of the first sitting, and elections must be held within sixty days of the dissolution (on or before 19 August 2016, with the date to be decided by the Election Commission), unless dissolved prior to that date by the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak on the advice of the Chief Minister of Sarawak.

The previous state election was held at 2011. The state assemblymen is elected to 5 years term each. It is expected to be the most hotly contested election in Sarawak's poll history. At the previous election, the opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat made historic gains by doubling its State Assembly seats, while the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional retained a two-thirds majority.^[1]

The incumbent Chief Minister Adenan Satem first announced the election during a party branch meeting on 29 January, speculating 18 April as the nomination day and 30 April as election day.^[2] However, Adenan said the final decision was up to the Election Commission.^[3]

On 14 April, the Election Commission announced that the election will be held on 7 May, with 12 days of campaigning and the nomination day set on 25 April. The legislative assembly was dissolved on Monday, 11 April.^[4]

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