Voters come out early fearing more rain

Braving the weather: Voters shielding themselves under umbrellas as they make their way into the voting centre at SK Sungai Limau. — Bernama

SUNGAI BESAR: Threatening dark clouds and heavy rain the day before saw voters making their way early to cast their ballots.

Queues formed the moment the polling centres opened at 8am yesterday.

It rained heavily on Thursday night and most of Friday, forcing some walkabouts to be cancelled.

An open-air concert by a famous Taiwanese singer had to be reloca­ted to a temple hall.

Teacher Linda Mohd Yusof, 36, said she felt relieved that she ma­­naged to cast her vote early to avoid the rain.

“This is my second time voting after the last general election. I did not want to take any chances so I turned up early,” she said when met at SK Sungai Besar.

As at 5pm, when the polling centres closed, there was no rain.

Election worker Nomsiah Kassim, 64, said she wanted to vote early because she had to work for the rest of the day.

“It is my responsibility as a citizen to come and vote.

“I am a local and I believe that I need to help make a difference,” said the former clerk.

Pensioner Arzali Hussin, 62, said he had to ferry other members of his family to their polling stations.

“My son and his family cast their votes in Sekinchan and I volunteered to bring them around,” he said.

Bernama reported that at SK Seri Utama, elderly voters received a pleasant surprise when a buggy came to take them to their polling centre, located some 100m from the school gate.

Khadijah Sultan, 75, said that in previous elections, elderly voters had to make do with the wheelchairs.

She added that the buggy was, however, faster and more practical.

Chia Moy Khang, 69, who suffered a stroke a few years ago, admitted that he was relieved to see the buggy.