Uncoupled state elections (PRN)
Malaysia’s federal and state elections increasingly take place on different dates, and putting them back on one timetable remains debated.
The short answer
A PRN is an election for a state assembly, not automatically part of a federal general election. Malaysia’s Constitution gives Parliament and each state assembly its own term and dissolution process, while the Election Commission administers elections at both levels. That legal structure makes simultaneous voting possible, but not compulsory.
The current separation of election dates was not caused by one rule change after 2018. Sarawak was already on a different schedule after its 2016 state election, and other states followed:
- 2016Sarawak held its state election.
- 2020Sabah voted.
- 2021Melaka and Sarawak voted.
- 2022Johor voted.
Several of these elections followed dissolutions linked to state-level political events.
When GE15 was called in 2022, only Perak, Pahang and Perlis held state polls at the same time. Pakatan Harapan’s state governments in Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Penang, and PAS-led governments in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, did not dissolve their assemblies for GE15. Those six states instead voted together on 12 August 2023.
Separate state polls can still matter directly to federal politics. The 2023 election involved the coalitions supporting and opposing the federal government, so it was widely treated as a measure of their support. The governing side retained Selangor, Penang and Negeri Sembilan, while Perikatan Nasional retained Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu; commentators disagreed about what that result meant for the federal government.
The cycle did not stop there:
- 29 November 2025Sabah voted again and returned a hung assembly.
- 11 July 2026Johor went to the polls, where Barisan Nasional won 48 of 56 seats and Perikatan Nasional none of the 33 it contested.
- 1 August 2026Negeri Sembilan followed three weeks later, with Barisan Nasional taking 18 of 36 seats and forming the state government with Perikatan Nasional.
None of the three coincided with a federal election. By August 2026 the practical position is that a voter's state ballot and federal ballot are separate events almost everywhere outside Perak, Pahang, Perlis and the six states that voted together in 2023.
The re-sync debate therefore involves a trade-off rather than a settled answer. The Election Commission estimated RM420 million for the six 2023 state polls, and some politicians argue that concurrent elections could save money and reduce voter fatigue. Hutchinson, however, argues that compelling states to follow the federal timetable could weaken the federal principle that states may make their own electoral choices.
What the sources say
How the election timetable works
Malaysia has elections for the Dewan Rakyat and for each of its 13 State Legislative Assemblies; the Election Commission conducts both federal and state assembly elections.
Parliament and a state assembly have separate constitutional terms: each normally lasts five years from its first sitting unless dissolved earlier.
Under the Eighth Schedule’s essential provisions for state constitutions, a state Ruler may dissolve the Legislative Assembly; after dissolution, the state election must be held within 60 days.
Consequently, a federal election does not itself dissolve a state assembly or legally require a state election on the same day.
Holding state and federal elections together was a longstanding political practice, rather than a single national election calendar imposed on all states.
The post-2018 divergence
At the 2018 general election (GE14), Sarawak did not vote for its state assembly because it had held its state election in 2016; this meant Sarawak was already on a separate cycle before the later sequence of uncoupled elections.
Sabah held a state election on 26 September 2020 after the Sabah assembly was dissolved on 30 July 2020 during a dispute over who commanded a majority; the dissolution was challenged in court, and on 8 September 2020 the Court of Appeal dismissed the challenge.
BernamaAnantha Raman GovindasamyShafie Apdal insists Sabah dissolution was by the book
Melaka held a state election on 20 November 2021 after its assembly was dissolved on 4 October, following the withdrawal of support by four assemblymen for Chief Minister Sulaiman Md Ali.
Sarawak held its next state election on 18 December 2021.
Johor’s Sultan consented to dissolve the state assembly on 22 January 2022, and the state election was held on 12 March 2022.
When Parliament was dissolved for GE15 in October 2022, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob advised state heads of government to seek their Rulers’ or Governors’ consent to dissolve their assemblies so that state and federal elections could be held together.
Perak, Pahang and Perlis dissolved their assemblies and held state elections alongside GE15.
Pakatan Harapan decided not to dissolve the assemblies it administered in Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Penang for GE15; PAS likewise retained its position not to dissolve the assemblies in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.
The cycle since 2023
The uncoupled pattern has continued through three further state elections, each on its own timetable rather than alongside a federal poll: Sabah on 29 November 2025, Johor on 11 July 2026 and Negeri Sembilan on 1 August 2026. The Election Commission set the two 2026 dates on 12 June 2026.
Sabah's 29 November 2025 election returned no majority: Gabungan Rakyat Sabah took 29 of 73 seats, Warisan 25 and Barisan Nasional 6, and Hajiji Noor was sworn in for a second term on a claimed majority assembled from several parties and independents. Final turnout was 64.35%.
In Johor on 11 July 2026, Barisan Nasional won 48 of the 56 state seats, Pakatan Harapan 8, and Perikatan Nasional none of the 33 it contested. The Election Commission reported turnout of 67.44% as at 5pm, with polls closing at 6pm — already above the level recorded in the 2022 Johor election.
In Negeri Sembilan on 1 August 2026, Barisan Nasional won 18 of 36 seats and Perikatan Nasional 7, and the two formed the state government together; Pakatan Harapan won the remaining 11. Bersatu contested 24 seats under its own logo and won none.
Negeri Sembilan had voted with the other five states in August 2023 and voted again in August 2026, so its assembly ran close to a full term on its own cycle; Johor's 2026 election came a little over four years after its 2022 election, itself the product of an early dissolution. Neither was aligned to a federal poll.
The 2023 six-state election and federal implications
Kedah, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Selangor and Terengganu held their state elections together on 12 August 2023.
The six state elections contested 245 assembly seats; Perikatan Nasional won 146 seats and parties in Anwar Ibrahim’s federal governing coalition won 99.
After the 2023 polls, the federal governing side retained Selangor, Penang and Negeri Sembilan, while Perikatan Nasional retained Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.
Because the 2023 election followed GE15 by about nine months and involved the parties supporting and opposing the federal government, it was widely treated in reporting as a test of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government and of the opposition’s support.
The Election Commission estimated that administering the six 2023 state elections would cost RM420 million.
Whether an assembly is dissolved early remains a decision for the relevant state constitutional authorities. Johor and Negeri Sembilan held separate state elections in 2026, and no final nationwide list of states that will align with GE16 has been located.
No enacted nationwide synchronisation proposal has been located. Current discussion about aligning particular elections remains conditional on the political situation and the consent of the relevant Rulers or Yang di-Pertua Negeri, rather than a nationwide constitutional programme.
Available Malaysian material does not provide a definitive net comparison of the turnout and fiscal effects of combined and separate polls; claims that concurrent elections reduce duplicated costs or raise turnout remain policy arguments and estimates.
ISEAS – Yusof Ishak InstituteElection Commission data portal
Where accounts differ
No winner is picked.
Francis E. Hutchinson of the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute characterises the October 2022 decision to call GE15 as the Ismail Sabri administration yielding to UMNO pressure, with calculations about recent Melaka and Johor results, the budget, and the monsoon season; this is an academic interpretation of political motivation, not a constitutional finding.
PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said PAS would not raise dissolution of the Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu assemblies because it was focusing on the expected monsoon season and post-Covid-19 economic recovery; this states PAS’s publicly given reason, not a verified account of all strategic considerations.
Supporters of re-synchronising elections, including MPs quoted by Free Malaysia Today, argue that concurrent polls could reduce public spending, limit voter fatigue, and improve state-election turnout; these are policy arguments rather than demonstrated outcomes.
Hutchinson argues that requiring state election cycles to match the federal cycle could conflict with the spirit of federalism, because it would limit states’ ability to reflect different political, social and cultural preferences.
Political scientist Syaza Shukri told Sinar Daily that the proximity of the 2023 state polls to GE15 created an element of political fatigue; other experts quoted in the same report considered turnout acceptable.
James Chin of the University of Tasmania said the 2023 result relieved pressure on Anwar’s government because losing one of its three states would have created greater political difficulty; Muhyiddin Yassin, by contrast, described Perikatan Nasional’s seat total as a rejection of the federal government.
Common questions
Can a state election be held separately from a general election?
Yes. Parliament and each State Legislative Assembly have separate terms and dissolution processes, so dissolving Parliament for a general election does not itself dissolve a state assembly or require its election to be held on the same day. The Election Commission administers elections at both levels.
Why did only some states vote during GE15?
Because state assemblies did not all dissolve when Parliament was dissolved. Perak, Pahang and Perlis dissolved their assemblies and voted alongside GE15, while the assemblies in Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu were not dissolved for that election. Sabah, Melaka, Sarawak and Johor had already held state elections before GE15.
Who decides whether a state assembly is dissolved early?
The relevant state constitutional authorities decide. Under the Constitution’s essential provisions for state constitutions, a state Ruler may dissolve the Legislative Assembly; a state election must then be held within 60 days. Whether an assembly is dissolved early is therefore not decided by the federal election timetable alone.
Do separate state elections matter for federal politics?
Yes, they can. The six state elections in August 2023 were held about nine months after GE15 and involved parties supporting and opposing the federal government, so reporting treated them as a test of support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government and for the opposition. The results left the governing side holding Selangor, Penang and Negeri Sembilan, while Perikatan Nasional retained Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.
Will all state elections be held with GE16?
There is no final nationwide list of states that will align with GE16. State dissolutions remain decisions for the relevant state constitutional authorities, and current discussion of alignment is conditional on the political situation and the consent of the relevant Rulers or Yang di-Pertua Negeri. No enacted nationwide synchronisation proposal has been identified.