1974 Malaysian general election

1974 Malaysian general election

←  1969 24 August – 14 September 1974 1978  →
←  outgoing members elected members  →
All 154 seats in the Dewan Rakyat 78 seats needed for a majority
Registered	4,013,012 [a] [2]
Turnout	75.01%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Abdul Razak Hussein Lim Kit Siang James Wong Party BN DAP SNAP Last election 82.35%, 121 seats 11.96%, 13 seats 2.70%, 9 seats Seats won 135 9 9 Seat change 14 4 Popular vote 1,287,463 387,845 117,566 Percentage 60.76% 18.30% 5.55% Swing 14.47pp 6.34pp 2.85pp
Results by constituency.
Prime Minister before election Abdul Razak Hussein BN Prime Minister-designate Abdul Razak Hussein BN

General elections were held in Malaysia between Saturday, 24 August and Saturday, 14 September 1974. ^[3] Voting took place in all 154 parliamentary constituencies of Malaysia, each electing one Member of Parliament to the Dewan Rakyat, the dominant house of Parliament. State elections also took place in 360 state constituencies (except Sabah) on the same day. The elections were the first and only general elections for Tun Abdul Razak as Prime Minister following his appointment to the position in 1970. They were also the first general elections for Barisan Nasional (BN), a new political alliance replacing the Alliance Party; with the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (PGRM) and the People's Progressive Party (PPP) joining the parties from the old Alliance.

Once Parliament had been dissolved on 31 July 1974, the Election Commission fixed 8 August 1974, as Nomination Day and 24 August 1974, as Polling Day. Candidates were returned unopposed in 47 constituencies. The 1,060,871 electors from these constituencies therefore did not cast ballots. Another 88 Front members were later successful, thus enabling their alliance to gain an overwhelming majority in the House. This result was a victory for Barisan Nasional which won 135 of the 154 seats. 10 additional Parliament seats was created in the Peninsular Malaysia in 1974.

Results

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	1,287,463	60.73	62	+10
			Malaysian Chinese Association			19	+6
			Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party			13	+1
			United Sabah National Organisation			13	0
			Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu			8	New
			Sarawak United Peoples' Party			7	+2
			Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia			5	–3
			Malaysian Indian Congress			4	+2
			Sabah Chinese Association			3	0
			People's Progressive Party			1	–3
		Total				135	+14
	Democratic Action Party			387,845	18.30	9	–4
	Sarawak National Party			117,503	5.54	9	0
	Malaysian Social Justice Party			108,709	5.13	1	New
	Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia			84,206	3.97	0	0
	Homeland Consciousness Union			8,625	0.41	0	New
	Independent People's Progressive Party			1,356	0.06	0	New
	Independents			124,202	5.86	0	–1
Total				2,119,909	100.00	154	+10
Valid votes				2,119,909	95.48
Invalid/blank votes				100,267	4.52
Total votes				2,220,176	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				2,956,378	75.10
Source: Nohlen et al., IPU, Tindak Malaysia Github

Total Electorate (1974): 4013012. Registered voters shown above is the total electorate of contested seats excluding 47 uncontested seats

*Comparison BN vote growth in pop-up box on the top right since 1969 elections was the comparison between BN (1974) and Alliance with Sabah and Sarawak Alliance (1969)

By state

Source:Tindak Malaysia GitHub ^[4]

Johore

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	77,046	36.91	11	0
			Malaysian Chinese Association	72,520	34.74	5	0
		Total		149,566	71.66	16	0
	DAP			43,002	20.60	0	0
	PSRM			6,015	2.88	0	0
	Independent			10,142	4.86	0	0
Total				208,725	100.00	16	0
Valid votes				208,725	95.71
Invalid/blank votes				9,354	4.29
Total votes				218,079	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				290,491	75.07

Total voters above refers to total voters of the contested constituencies. Total Electorate of Johor which includes 8 uncontested seats is 495380.

Kedah

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	52,112	47.36	8	+1
			Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party	16,475	14.97	3	0
			Malaysian Chinese Association	13,420	12.20	2	0
		Total		82,007	74.52	13	0
	DAP			9,450	8.59	0	0
	Homeland Consciousness Union			4,016	3.65	0	New
	PSRM			4,099	3.72	0	0
	Independents			10,471	9.52	0	0
Total				110,043	100.00	13	+1
Valid votes				110,043	95.19
Invalid/blank votes				5,562	4.81
Total votes				115,605	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				165,675	69.78

Total Voters above in the table refers to total voters of contested constituencies. Total Electorate of Kedah is 400285 which includes 8 uncontested seats

Kelantan

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party	81,280	54.89	7	+1
			United Malays National Organisation	29,677	20.04	5	+1
		Total		110,957	74.94	12	+2
	Independents			37,111	25.06	0	0
Total				148,068	100.00	12	+2
Valid votes				148,068	95.14
Invalid/blank votes				7,564	4.86
Total votes				155,632	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				209,953	74.13

Total Voters above in the table refers to total voters of contested constituencies. Total Electorate of Kelantan is 400285 which includes 4 uncontested seats

Kuala Lumpur

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats
	Barisan Nasional		Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia	15,682	13.77	0
			United Malays National Organisation	14,743	12.95	1
			Malaysian Chinese Association	9,886	8.68	0
			Malaysian Indian Congress	9,763	8.58	1
		Total		50,074	43.98	2
	Democratic Action Party			42,591	37.41	2
	Malaysian Social Justice Party			20,504	18.01	1
	Independents			681	0.60	0
Total				113,850	100.00	5
Valid votes				113,850	98.34
Invalid/blank votes				1,919	1.66
Total votes				115,769	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				115,769	100.00

No seat change information was shown due to formation of Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory from 1st February 1974 (excised from Selangor)

Malacca

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	39,511	34.71	2	0
			Malaysian Chinese Association	31,642	27.79	1	0
		Total		71,153	62.50	3	0
	Democratic Action Party			17,664	15.52	1	0
	Malaysian Social Justice Party			12,838	11.28	0	New
	PSRM			10,276	9.03	0	0
	Independents			1,910	1.68	0	0
Total				113,841	100.00	4	0
Valid votes				113,841	96.16
Invalid/blank votes				4,550	3.84
Total votes				118,391	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				151,699	78.04

Negri Sembilan

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	14,138	16.10	3	0
			Malaysian Chinese Association	26,714	30.43	1	+1
			Malaysian Indian Congress	13,295	15.14	1	+1
		Total		54,147	61.68	5	+2
	Democratic Action Party			27,956	31.84	1	–2
	PSRM			1,451	1.65	0	–
	Independent People's Progressive Party			1,356	1.54	0	New
	Malaysian Social Justice Party			967	1.10	0	New
	Independent			1,914	2.18	0	–
Total				87,791	100.00	6	0
Valid votes				87,791	94.52
Invalid/blank votes				5,088	5.48
Total votes				92,879	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				121,097	76.70

Total Voters above in the table refers to total voters of contested constituencies. Total Electorate of Negeri Sembilan is 178717 which includes 2 uncontested seats

Pahang

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	49,917	54.95	7	+2
			Malaysian Chinese Association	12,064	13.28	1	0
		Total		61,981	68.23	8	+2
	Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia			14,244	15.68	0	0
	DAP			11,898	13.10	0	0
	Independents			2,721	3.00	0	0
Total				90,844	100.00	8	+2
Valid votes				90,844	94.73
Invalid/blank votes				5,049	5.27
Total votes				95,893	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				126,711	75.68

Total Voters above in the table refers to total voters of contested constituencies. Total Electorate of Pahang is 199478 which includes 3 uncontested seats

Penang

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		Malaysian Chinese Association	46,226	22.05	3	+2
			Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia	42,792	20.41	3	–2
			United Malays National Organisation	28,331	13.51	3	+2
		Total		117,349	55.97	9	+2
	Democratic Action Party			51,025	24.34	0	–1
	Malaysian Social Justice Party			27,638	13.18	0	New
	Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia			12,409	5.92	0	0
	Homeland Consciousness Union			1,235	0.59	0	New
Total				209,656	100.00	9	+1
Valid votes				209,656	96.01
Invalid/blank votes				8,710	3.99
Total votes				218,366	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				271,133	80.54

Total Voters above in the table refers to total voters of contested constituencies. Total Electorate of Penang is 289140 which includes 1 uncontested seat

Perak

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	80,684	20.19	10	+3
			Malaysian Chinese Association	33,444	8.37	2	+1
			Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia	23,938	5.99	2	+1
			Malaysian Indian Congress	9,045	2.26	1	0
			People's Progressive Party	45,904	11.49	1	–3
			Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party	15,781	3.95	1	0
		Total		208,796	52.25	17	+3
	Democratic Action Party			144,621	36.19	4	–1
	Malaysian Social Justice Party			15,817	3.96	0	New
	Homeland Consciousness Union			3,374	0.84	0	New
	Independent			27,029	6.76	0	0
Total				399,637	100.00	21	+1
Valid votes				399,637	95.93
Invalid/blank votes				16,934	4.07
Total votes				416,571	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				555,473	74.99

Total Voters above in the table refers to total voters of contested constituencies. Total Electorate of Perak is 626525 which includes 3 uncontested seats

Perlis

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	29,039	66.99	2	0
	Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia			2,796	6.45	0	0
	Independents			11,513	26.56	0	0
Total				43,348	100.00	2	0
Valid votes				43,348	94.74
Invalid/blank votes				2,407	5.26
Total votes				45,755	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				58,721	77.92

Sabah

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Sabah National Organisation	6,468	60.85	13	0
			Sabah Chinese Association			3	0
		Total		6,468	60.85	16	0
	Malaysian Social Justice Party			4,162	39.15	0	New
Total				10,630	100.00	16	0
Valid votes				10,630	96.03
Invalid/blank votes				439	3.97
Total votes				11,069	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				14,419	76.77

SCA won all three seats in an uncontested manner. Only one seat was contested in Sabah

Sarawak

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu	82,853	30.94	9	New
			Sarawak United Peoples' Party	65,104	24.31	6	+1
		Total		147,957	55.25	15	+1
	Sarawak National Party			117,503	43.88	9	0
	Independents			2,322	0.87	0	–1
Total				267,782	100.00	24	0
Valid votes				267,782	94.81
Invalid/blank votes				14,657	5.19
Total votes				282,439	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				375,882	75.14

Selangor

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	34,957	16.77	5	–1
			Malaysian Chinese Association	64,635	31.01	4	+2
			Malaysian Indian Congress	16,277	7.81	1	0
			Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia	12,868	6.17	0	-2
		Total		128,737	61.76	10	+1
	Democratic Action Party			39,638	19.02	1	–2
	Malaysian Social Justice Party			26,783	12.85	0	New
	Independents			13,283	6.37	0	0
Total				208,441	100.00	11	–3
Valid votes				208,441	95.00
Invalid/blank votes				10,972	5.00
Total votes				219,413	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				290,264	75.59

Total Voters above in the table refers to total voters of contested constituencies. Total Electorate of Sabah is 337353 which includes 2 uncontested seats

Trengganu

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Barisan Nasional		United Malays National Organisation	34,382	32.06	4	0
			Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party	34,850	32.49	3	+1
		Total		69,232	64.55	7	+1
	Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia			32,916	30.69	0	0
	Independents			5,105	4.76	0	0
Total				107,253	100.00	7	+1
Valid votes				107,253	93.82
Invalid/blank votes				7,062	6.18
Total votes				114,315	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				155,825	73.36

Total Voters above in the table refers to total voters of contested constituencies. Total Electorate of Trengganu is 183769 which includes 1 uncontested seat

Aftermath

After the election, Sarawak National Party (SNAP) became the largest opposition party in the Malaysian parliament and James Wong was appointed the opposition leader. After 2 months, he was detained under Internal Security Act. Datuk Seri Edmund Langgau Anak Saga from the SNAP party later succeeded him. James Wong was detained for almost two years before negotiation led by Datuk Amar Leo Moggie Anak Irok resulting in SNAP joining the Barisan Nasional.

See also

• 1974 Malaysian state elections

Notes

1. Candidates were returned unopposed in 47 constituencies, reducing the number of eligible voters to 2,956,378. ^[1]

References

1. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p156 ISBN   0-19-924959-8
2. Tindak Malaysia Github
3. Nohlen et al., p152
4. "HISTORICAL-ELECTION-RESULTS/1974-ELECTION-RESULTS/MALAYSIA_1974_PARLIAMENT_RESULTS.csv at main · TindakMalaysia/HISTORICAL-ELECTION-RESULTS". GitHub. Retrieved 25 April 2025.