KUALA LUMPUR (July 12): Barisan Nasional (BN) has outdone its 2022 performance in Johor, after it won 48 of 56 seats in the July 11 state polls, compared with 40 seats in the previous election, according to data from the Election Commission (EC).

BN crossed simple majority of 29 seats at 10.32pm on Saturday, EC chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun said in a statement earlier. 

Based on official data, Umno won 36 of 37 seats contested, three more than in 2022. MCA doubled its seat count from 2022, with eight seats won of the 15 seats it contested, while MIC won all four seats it contested in. 

Meanwhile, Pakatan Harapan (PH) officially secured eight seats, including six from DAP and one from Amanah in Simpang Jeram (N.13), with a super slim majority of 0.6%. The final seat with official results out was Puteri Wangsa (N.41), which was the only constituency won by PKR through Dr Maszlee Malik. PKR wrested the seat from Muda in a five-cornered fight. 

Overall, BN secured about 60% of the popular vote, compared with 33% by PH, and 5.4% by PN. Total turnout was 69.57%, compared with 54.9% in 2022.

BN had a strong showing despite higher turnout, as non-Malay voters opted for "strategic voting" by consolidating their support behind BN "in order to stop Perikatan Nasional" from making further inroads, said political analyst Bridget Welsh when contacted. 

The outcome is also likely to "raise BN's confidence" going into the Negeri Sembilan state election this August, said Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) School of Distance Education Honorary Professor (Political Science) Dr Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid.

"As a member of the unity government, BN can now exert pressure on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to speed up the dissolution of Parliament" and make way for the 16th general election, Ahmad Fauzi said.

Aside from PN, new entrant Parti Bersama Malaysia, led by former PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Mohd Rafizi Ramli, also lost all 15 seats and is set to see its candidates lose deposits after failing to win 12.5% of the valid votes in those seats. 

The party had contested in seats with higher percentage of young voters, opting for online presence to garner support from fence-sitters having just promoted the party as a contender in Malaysia's political landscape in less than two months.

Rafizi, in a Facebook post conceding Bersama's loss, said, "Preliminary analysis indicates a significant shift in support towards BN across all voter segments, regardless of age and ethnicity.

"Candidates from all other parties — whether PH, PN, Bersama or Muda — were affected by this swing. For Bersama, we will closely examine the election results to improve our approach to winning voters’ support in the future," he said. 

Like Bersama, Muda also lost all deposits in all four seats it contested in, including Puteri Wangsa, where it won in 2022 when PH gave way to the party and did not contest. 

Among PN coalition members, two of them lost deposits in all seats they contested, namely MIPP (five seats) and Pejuang (one seat). 

Meanwhile, PAS, which lost all 11 seats it contested, saw five candidates losing their deposits. Bersatu, which lost in all 16 seats, lost deposits in ten of them.

In PH, two parties saw their candidates lose their deposits: PKR in Sri Medan (N.18), Johor Lama (N.37) Tanjung Surat (N.39), and Amanah in Semarang (N.20), Sedili (N.36) and Penawar (N.38).

Find out all you need to know about the 2026 Johor election here.