The Johor legislative assembly election has concluded and the results are being tallied.
This live report will provide updates on the results as they are announced.
Muda ahead in three seats
7.30pm: Muda is giving BN a run for its money in early counting even though most of the early ballots are army and police votes which have traditionally sided with BN.
In Puteri Wangsa, Muda is ahead with 144 votes to BN's 127 votes. Perikatan Nasional (PN) is in third with 59 votes.
Muda information chief Luqman Long says his party managed to win a majority of postal votes.
"Muda won the postal votes in Puteri Wangsa," he says.
In Tenang, Muda is leading with 571 votes to BN's 309 votes. PN has 174.
In Bukit Kepong, Muda is also ahead slightly with 241 votes to BN's 232 votes. PN has 173.
However, Muda is far behind in Bukit Permai with only 30 votes. BN is head with 231 votes while PN has 118 votes.
It should be noted that for most constituencies, postal and early votes only make a small proportion of the votes.
Supporters believe Ah Soon can win Yong Peng
7.20pm: MCA Operation Centre, Yong Peng - Over 100 supporters are gathered here to watch the live streaming of unofficial results.
They cheer whenever the unofficial results show BN candidate Ling Tian Soon, popular known as Ah Soon, in the lead.
Among them are Lim Choon Soon, a 67-year-old MCA member who has been with the party for over half a century.
He says the crowd is bigger than before this year and they believe Ling stands a chance to win.
"It's unlike the last election, they (Pakatan Harapan) got a landslide victory.
"I hope Ah Soon can win since he has put in effort into this place," Lim says.
Yong Peng is MCA's main target which DAP has acknowledged is in danger.
If voting rate low, it’s not positive for Harapan - Loke
7.15pm: Harapan Command Centre - DAP organising secretary Anthony Loke expects the turnout rate to be less than 60 percent.
“Generally we know that if the voting rate is low, it is not positive for Harapan.
“Anyhow, we keep our fingers crossed that we can achieve a better result in the state election,” Loke says.
Actor among BN supporters waiting for results
7.10pm: BN Command Centre - Actor Ady Putra is among BN supporters spotted in the crowd monitoring informal live results streaming in as counting continues.
"I have been here in Johor for about a week.
"I was in Muar, Segamat, Batu Pahat and Kluang with the candidates, we went down to many polling districts. And today I'm here in Johor Baru," says Ady Putra, known among others for his role in the 2013 movie “KL Gangster 2”.
Meanwhile, Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan announces the arrival of BN leaders including MCA president Wee Ka Siong and Puteri Umno chief Zarida Zariq Khan.
"Keep your distance, if we win but we get Covid, it’s not worth it," he quips.
BN ahead in several seats due to postal, early votes
7pm: As expected and as is with most polls, BN pulls ahead in early counting because postal and early votes are normally counted first.
These ballots are mostly from army and police voters who tend to side with BN.
These votes put BN ahead in several seats including Bukit Permai, Bukit Batu, Senai, Pekan Nanas, Tiram, Puteri Wangsa, Johor Jaya, Skudai and Kota Iskandar.
Interestingly, Perikatan Nasional is able to also grab some of these votes, putting it in second place in most of these seats.
Pakatan Harapan's votes normally pick up later as most of their supporters are in large urban centres where counting takes a longer time.
BN leading with 461 votes in Tanjung Surat
6.45pm: BN Command Centre - Live announcements of informal results are ongoing, highlighting seats where BN is leading the tally.
Most of the 56 seats are showing results of only one or two completed streams.
In N39 Tanjung Surat, BN is leading with 461 votes from four out of 53 streams. Perikatan Nasional (PN) trails with 168 votes, followed by PKR (11) and Pejuang (1).
In N46 Perling, Harapan is leading with 293 votes from one out of 172 completed streams, followed closely by PN with 231 votes and zero to BN.
New voters likely to make up for lower turnout
6.35pm: Analysis - As at 4pm, the turnout rate in the Johor polls was 50 percent, significantly lower than the 61 percent at 4pm during the Malacca polls.
The final turnout in the Malacca polls, which ended at 5.30pm, was 65.85 percent.
The final turnout for the Johor polls has yet to be announced but it is estimated to be near 60 percent. Polls closed at 6pm.
At first glance, it would appear there is a dramatic drop in voters but this is also the first election where the automatic voter registration system was implemented, as well as the new voting age of 18, down from 21.
Automatic voter registration had caused the electorate to balloon by 42.89 percent.
Malaysiakini's preliminary estimation finds the absolute turnout (exact number of voters) will be very similar to 2018, at around 1.5 million voters, although it is significantly lower percentage-wise.
In Johor during the 2018 general election, 1,503,995 out of 1,817,999 eligible voters cast their votes.
In this election, if the final turnout is around 60 percent, some 1.5 million out of the 2,597,742 eligible electors would have voted.
In short, new voters are making up the numbers for the expected lower turnout due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Their voting preferences, however, will be known in the next hours.
No need for deals if BN wins two-thirds majority
6.15pm: BN command centre - Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi arrives. He indicates that BN is prepared to sign a deal with the opposition if it wins.
However, he says this may not be necessary if BN can capture a two-thirds majority.
"Our door is always open to cooperate with any registered parties. But if we get two-thirds, then cooperation would be meaningless," he adds.
However, he says BN will consider providing allocation to the opposition.
Counting starts
6pm: All polling centres in the Johor polls have officially closed.
The respective party leaders are now heading to their command centres where they will hold a parallel tally to the Election Commission’s (EC).
This data is gathered from the parties' agents at every polling district and are the source of the unofficial results. The EC's official results normally come later.
According to EC procedures, votes are counted at the respective polling districts before they are brought to the tallying centre.
At the tallying centre, the total votes at the respective polling districts will be totalled.
A recount, if any, can only happen at the polling district level.
The following are where the key parties have set up their command centres:
Pakatan Harapan - Le Grandeur Palm Resort in Senai, Johor
Perikatan Nasional - Impiana Hotel Senai in Senai, Johor
BN - Johor Umno headquarters ar Jalan Yahya Awal, Johor Bahru
Muda - Jalan Rusa, Johor Bahru
-Mkini
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