Kuala lumpur: Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi hopes the strong momentum in early voter turnout, which exceeded 88 per cent today, will continue on polling day for the 16th Negeri Sembilan state election this Saturday. He said the high turnout reflected healthy democratic participation and expressed hope that more voters would fulfil their responsibility on Saturday.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Ahmad Zahid congratulated the early voters, sharing that the Election Commission (EC) reported a very high turnout exceeding 88 per cent. He expressed optimism that if this trend continues on polling day, it would be an encouraging sign for democracy in Negeri Sembilan. He made these statements at a press conference after officiating at the RISDA Central Zone Smallholders Convention.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid described BN as the underdog in the state election and urged the coalition's election machinery to intensify efforts to reach out to voters during the remaining three days of the campaign. Earlier, the EC announced an early voter turnout of 88.97 per cent as of 3 pm today.

Early voting for the Negeri Sembilan state election involved a total of 22,339 voters. This included 16,467 who cast their ballots in person today, comprising 11,293 military personnel and their spouses, and 5,174 police personnel and their spouses. The remaining voters cast their ballots by post. A total of 867,151 voters are eligible to cast their ballots on Saturday.