Early voters to cast ballots for Padang Serai, Tioman seats tomorrow

KUALA LUMPUR - The early voting process for the 15th General Election (GE15) for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat, in Kedah, and the Tioman state seat, in Pahang, for members of the security forces and their spouses will be held tomorrow.

An early voting centre with two polling channels will open at 8 am for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat, and two voting centres with two channels for the Tioman state seat.

Based on the Electoral Roll to be used for the elections, there are 76 and 262 early voters comprising members of the police force and their spouses for the Padang Serai and Tioman seats, respectively.

The Election Commission (EC) recommends the electors and all those involved in the early voting process wear face masks, maintain physical distancing and always sanitise their hands.

Polling for GE15 in both constituencies was postponed following the death of one candidate vying for the seats, namely M. Karupaiya of Pakatan Harapan (PH) for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat and Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Md. Yunus Ramli for the Tioman state seat.

The EC has set Dec 7 as the polling day. The nomination was held last Nov 24.

The contest for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat will see a six-cornered fight among Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Dr Mohamad Sofee Razak, Datuk C. Sivaraajh (Barisan Nasional), Datuk Azman Nasrudin (Perikatan Nasional) and Hamzah Abd Rahman (Pejuang).

The other two contenders are Mohd Bakhri Hashim, representing Warisan, and independent candidate Sreanandha Rao.

However, Warisan had announced that it would not take part in the election, but the party logo would still appear on the ballot paper, as it had already been registered as one of the competing parties.

Meanwhile, the Tioman state seat will witness a five-cornered fight among PN candidate Nor Idayu Hashim, Datuk Seri Mohd Johari Hussain (BN), Osman A Bakar (Pejuang), Sulaiman Bakar (Independent). and Mohd Fadzli Mohd Ramly, of PH.

The other candidate, Mohd Fadzli Mohd Ramly, of PH, is making way for the BN candidate to increase the latter’s chances of winning, but his (Mohd Fadzli) name will still be on the ballot papers.

According to the EC, the status of the candidates cannot be changed after their nominations were accepted.

The GE15 on Nov 19 ended with PH obtaining 82 seats, followed by PN (73), BN (30), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (22), Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (six), Warisan (three), Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) and Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) (one each), and the independents, two. - BERNAMA