Perai (state constituency)

Perai is a state constituency in Penang, Malaysia, that has been represented in the Penang State Legislative Assembly.^[3]

Perai

Penang constituency
State constituency
Legislature	Penang State Legislative Assembly
MLA	Sundarajoo Somu PH
Constituency created	1986 (as Prai)
First contested	1986
Last contested	2023
Demographics
Electors (2023)[1]	20,479
Area (km²)[2]	11

The state constituency was first contested in 2004 and is mandated to return a single Assemblyman to the Penang State Legislative Assembly under the first-past-the-post voting system. Since 2018^[update], the State Assemblyman for Perai is Ramasamy Palanisamy from the Democratic Action Party (DAP), which is part of the state's ruling coalition, Pakatan Harapan (PH).^[4]

Definition

Polling districts

According to the federal gazette issued on 18 July 2023 the Perai constituency is divided into 6 polling districts.^[5]

State constituency	Polling Districts	Code	Location
Perai（N16）	Taman Indrawasih	046/16/01	SMK Taman Inderawasih
	Taman Chai Leng	046/16/02	SK Taman Inderawasih
	Perai	046/16/03	SJK (T) Perai
	Taman Perai	046/16/04	SK Khir Johari
	Taman Supreme	046/16/05	SMK Prai
	Taman Kimsar	046/16/06	SJK (C) Chung Hwa 3

Demographics

Ethnic breakdown of Perai's electorate as of 2023^[6]

1. Chinese (49.87%)
2. Indian (35.64%)
3. Malay (13.25%)
4. Other ethnicities (1.24%)

Total electors by polling district in 2016

Polling district	Electors
Taman Indrawasih	4,233
Taman Chai Leng	3,224
Perai	2,268
Taman Perai	999
Taman Supreme	2,937
Taman Kimsar	2,403
Total	16,064
Source: Malaysian Election Commission[7]

History

Penang State Legislative Assemblyman for Perai
Assembly	Years	Member	Party
Constituency created from Bagan Dalam
7th	1986 – 1990	Shanmugam Nadason	DAP
8th	1990 – 1991	S. Asamaley[8]
	1991 – 1995	Valli Muthusamy	BN (MIC)
9th	1995 – 1999	Rajapathy Kuppusamy
10th	1999 – 2004
11th	2004 – 2008
12th	2008 – 2013	Ramasamy Palanisamy	PR (DAP)
13th	2013 – 2015
	2015 – 2018		PH (DAP)
14th	2018 – 2023
15th	2023–present	Sundarajoo Somu

Election results

The electoral results for the Perai state constituency are as follows.

Penang state election, 2023

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	PH	Sundarajoo Somu	10,680	76.80	5.70
	PN	Sivasuntaram Rajalinggam	1,541	11.10	11.10
	Independent	David Marshel Pakianathan	1,439	10.30	10.30
	MUDA	Vikneswary Harikrishnan	253	1.80	1.80
Total valid votes			13,913	100.00
Total rejected ballots			120
Unreturned ballots			11
Turnout			14,044	68.58	12.52
Registered electors			20,479
Majority			9,139	65.70	0.70
	PH hold		Swing

Penang state election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	PH	Ramasamy Palanisamy	11,243	82.50	82.50
	BN	Suresh Muniandy	2,194	16.10	3.30
	Penang Front Party	Ooi Khar Giap	104	0.80	0.80
	Parti Rakyat Malaysia	Samuganathan Muniandy	37	0.20	0.20
	People's Alternative Party	Asoghan Govindaraju	33	0.20	0.20
	Independent	Kumary Retnam	23	0.20	0.20
Total valid votes			13,634	100.00
Total rejected ballots			168
Unreturned ballots			17
Turnout			13,819	81.10	2.80
Registered electors			17,032
Majority			9,049	66.40	6.60
	PH hold		Swing
Source(s) "His Majesty's Government Gazette - Notice of Contested Election, State Legislative Assembly for the State of Penang [P.U. (B) 252/2018]" (PDF). Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 2018-08-01.[permanent dead link] "Federal Government Gazette - Results of Contested Election and Statements of the Poll after the Official Addition of Votes, State Constituencies for the State of Penang [P.U. (B) 326/2018]" (PDF). Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia. 28 May 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 August 2019. Retrieved 2018-08-01.

Penang state election, 2013

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	DAP	Ramasamy Palanisamy	10,549	79.20	6.00
	BN	Krishnan Letchumanan	2,590	19.40	4.40
	Independent	Muhammad Ridhwan Sulaiman	184	1.40	1.40
Total valid votes			13,323	100.00
Total rejected ballots			142
Unreturned ballots			0
Turnout			13,465	83.90	8.50
Registered electors			16,058
Majority			7,959	59.80	10.40
	DAP hold		Swing
Source(s) "Federal Government Gazette - Notice of Contested Election, State Legislative Assembly for the State of Penang [P.U. (B) 189/2013]" (PDF). Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia. 26 April 2013. Retrieved 2016-05-21.[permanent dead link] "Federal Government Gazette - Results of Contested Election and Statements of the Poll after the Official Addition of Votes, State Constituencies for the State of Penang [P.U. (B) 230/2013]" (PDF). Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia. 22 May 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 2016-05-21.

Penang state election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	DAP	Ramasamy Palanisamy	7,668	73.20	20.14
	BN	Krishnan Letchumanan	2,492	23.80	23.14
	Independent	Ulaganathan Ramasamy	311	3.00	3.00
Total valid votes			10,471	100.00
Total rejected ballots			180
Unreturned ballots			0
Turnout			10,651	75.40	4.83
Registered electors			14,124
Majority			4,241	49.40	43.28
	DAP gain from BN		Swing		?
Source(s) [9]

Penang state election, 2004

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	BN	Rajapathy Kuppusamy	5,060	53.06	5.04
	DAP	Chong Eng	4,477	46.94	6.19
Total valid votes			9,537	100.00
Total rejected ballots			206
Unreturned ballots			0
Turnout			9,748	70.57	0.30
Registered electors			13,813
Majority			583	6.12	11.23
	BN hold		Swing
Source(s) [10]

Penang state election, 1999

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	BN	Rajapathy Kuppusamy	9,174	58.10	2.95
	DAP	S. Neelamekan	6,435	40.75	5.10
	Independent	K. Vijaya Kumari	182	1.15	1.15
Total valid votes			15,791	100.00
Total rejected ballots			382
Unreturned ballots			0
Turnout			16,176	70.27	2.59
Registered electors			23,020
Majority			2,739	17.35	8.05
	BN hold		Swing

Penang state election, 1995

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	BN	Rajapathy Kuppusamy	9,047	55.15
	DAP	Patto Perumal	7,357	45.85
Total valid votes			16,404	100.00
Total rejected ballots			408
Unreturned ballots			0
Turnout			16,849	72.86
Registered electors			23,124
Majority			1,690	9.30
	BN hold		Swing

Penang state by-election, 27 July 1991
The by-election was called due to the resignation of incumbent, S. Asamaley.

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	BN	Valli Muthusamy	-	-
	DAP	Karpal Singh Ram Singh	-	-
Total valid votes			-	100.00
Total rejected ballots			-
Unreturned ballots			-
Turnout			-	-
Registered electors			14,000
Majority			-
	BN gain from DAP		Swing		?

Penang state election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	DAP	S. Asamaley	5,250	51.75	2.51
	BN	Valli Muthusamy	4,895	48.25	11.72
Total valid votes			10,145	100.00
Total rejected ballots			234
Unreturned ballots			0
Turnout			10,388	73.72	4.10
Registered electors			14,092
Majority			355	3.50	14.23
	DAP hold		Swing

Penang state election, 1986

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	DAP	Shanmugam Nadason	5,117	54.26
	BN	Subbiah Thevarayan Chettiar	3,445	36.53
	Independent	Lim Eng Seng	870	9.23
Total valid votes			9,430	100.00
Total rejected ballots			288
Unreturned ballots			0
Turnout			9,720	69.62
Registered electors			13,961
Majority			1,672	17.73
This was a new constituency created.

See also

• Constituencies of Penang