PUTRAJAYA: A total of 570 candidates are vying for the 245 seats up for grabs in the six state elections on August 12, the Election Commission (EC) said today.

EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh said 571 sets of nomination papers were received for the state polls but one was rejected.

The rejected papers were submitted by a person who wanted to stand as an independent candidate in the Kota Lama seat in Kelantan, he said.

The Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election, which will be held simultaneously with the state polls, will see a straight fight between Pakatan Harapan (PH) and PAS, he told a press conference here on the nominations for the state polls and parliamentary by-election.

“EC received 83 sets of nomination papers for the state polls in Kedah, Kelantan (97), Terengganu (66), Penang (95), Selangor (147), Negeri Sembilan (83) and two sets for the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election,” he said.

According to Abdul Ghani, 168 of the candidates in the six state polls are from Perikatan Nasional (PN), 137 are from PH, 108 are from Barisan Nasional (BN) and 77 are from PAS.

Parti Rakyat Malaysia is fielding 13 candidates, Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA), 19; Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), four; Penang Front Party (PFP), two; Parti Utama Rakyat (PUR), one; while 41 are independent candidates, he said.

Abdul Ghani said for the state polls, there will be straight fights in 180 seats, three-way contests in 51 seats, four-cornered fights in 13 seats and a five-cornered battle in one seat, which is Lunas in Kedah.

“There are 204 candidates aged between 50 and 59, making them the biggest group,” he added.

A total of 111 candidates are aged 60 and above; 157 candidates are between 40 and 49 years old, 83 candidates are between 30 and 39 years old, and 17 candidates are between 21 and 29 years old.

Abdul Ghani said the oldest candidate is PRM’s Ravinder Singh a/l Singh, 80, who is standing in Pantai Jerejak, Penang, while the youngest is Melanie Ting Yi-Hlin, 23, the MUDA candidate for the Bukit Antarabangsa seat in Selangor.

A total of 501 candidates for the state polls and Kuala Terengganu by-election are men while 71 are women, he said.

Early voting for the state polls and parliamentary by-election is on August 8 and polling is on August 12.