PETALING JAYA: Malaysians will go to the polls on May 9, which falls on a Wednesday, the Election Commission (EC) announced.

EC chairman Tan Sri Mohd Hashim bin Abdullah, in a broadcasted announcement on TV1, said that nominations for the 222 parliamentary and 587 state seats have been set for April 28. Early voting for military and police personnel as well as voters living abroad has been fixed for May 5.

This gives political parties a campaign period of 11 days, four days more than the 13th General Election. 
The EC on Tuesday has issued the writ of election and the next day for the notice of election.

Mohd Hashim said that a total of 14,940,627 Malaysians are eligible to vote in GE14 compared to 13,268,002 registered voters in the last general election in 2013.
The 14th General Election will see a total of 259,391 election workers on duty, with 8,898 polling centres and 28,995 polling streams.

Mohd Hashim earlier chaired an eight-men panel meeting at 10am to decide on the key dates for the election including nomination, early voting, and polls.
He said the EC had taken several factors into consideration when deciding on the dates, ensuring that none clash with any significant cultural or religious event.
The 13th Malaysian Parliament was dissolved on Saturday (April 7) to pave the way for GE14.

The dissolution was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak after receiving consent from the 15th Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V.
GE14, however, will not see state elections in Sarawak which has 82 state constituencies. Sarawak held its state elections on May 7, 2016.