Malaysian Election Glossary — Key Terms Explained
Plain-language definitions of the terms used across Malaysian general and state election coverage — DUN, Parliament, majority mark, coalitions and more.
DUN (Dewan Undangan Negeri)
The State Legislative Assembly — Malaysia's state-level parliament. Each of the 13 states elects its own DUN in a state election; members are called ADUNs.
Parliament (Dewan Rakyat)
Malaysia's federal House of Representatives, with 222 seats elected in a General Election (GE). The party or coalition with a majority (112+ seats) forms the federal government.
Majority mark
The number of seats a coalition needs to control a legislature outright — half the total seats plus one. For Parliament that's 112 of 222; for a DUN it varies by state size.
Coalition
A grouping of political parties that contest and govern together, e.g. Barisan Nasional (BN), Pakatan Harapan (PH), Perikatan Nasional (PN), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).
Undi18
The 2019 constitutional amendment that lowered Malaysia's voting age from 21 to 18 and introduced automatic voter registration, adding millions of new voters from GE15 (2022) onward.
SPR (Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya)
The Election Commission of Malaysia, the independent body responsible for conducting federal and state elections and maintaining the electoral roll.
Majority (in a seat result)
The number of votes by which the winning candidate beat the runner-up in a single constituency — a measure of how safe or marginal that seat is.
GE / SE
GE = General Election (federal, e.g. GE15 = 2022). SE = State Election (e.g. SE-16 = the 16th election for that particular state assembly).