Next Sabah state election

The next Sabah state election, formally the 17th Sabah general election, will elect the 17th Sabah State Legislative Assembly. It must be held by 9 December 2025 at the latest, persuant to clause 21(4) of the Constitution of Sabah. This date is dependent on when the 16th Legislative Assembly first sits. All 73 seats will be up for contests, presuming no constituencies are added or removed in a redistribution.

Background
Traditionally, state elections are held simultaneously with the parliamentary election but each state can decide when to hold its election. This is because state assemblies are dissolved by their respective ruler or governor on the advice of the chief minister of the state.

With the formation of the unity government, every single party in Sabah is a part of that government. However at the state level, there are discrepancies whereby Warisan and Barisan Nasional are not a part of the coalition. Yet the present practice for the unity government would be that of a seat negotiation, or an unsigned electoral pact where no two parties would send candidates, only a single candidate would be sent from the unity government. It remains to be seen how at the state level such cooperation would play out.

Electoral system
Elections in Malaysia are conducted at the federal and state levels. Federal elections elect members of the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of Parliament, while state elections in each of the 13 states elect members of their respective state legislative assembly. As Malaysia follows the Westminster system of government, the head of government (Prime Minister at the federal level and the Menteri Besar/Chief Ministers/Premier at the state level) is the person who commands the confidence of the majority of members in the respective legislature – this is normally the leader of the party or coalition with the majority of seats in the legislature.

The Legislative Assembly consists of 73 members, known as Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), that are elected for five-year terms. Each MLA is elected from a single-member constituencies using the first-past-the-post voting system; each constituency contains approximately an equal number of voters. If one party obtains a majority of seats, then that party is entitled to form the government, with its leader becoming the Chief Minister. In the event of a hung parliament, where no single party obtains the majority of seats, the government may still form through a coalition or a confidence and supply agreement with other parties. In practice, coalitions and alliances in Malaysia, and by extension, in Sabah, generally persist between elections, and member parties do not normally contest for the same seats.

The voting age is currently 18. Elections are conducted by the Election Commission of Malaysia, which is under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister's Department. Malaysia practices automatic voter registration but does not practice compulsory voting.

Preparations
On 27 March 2024, State Chairman of Barisan Nasional (BN) and United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) of Sabah Bung Moktar Radin dismissed the possibility of Sabah BN to work with GRS led by Chief Minister Hajiji Noor.