Operations, courses contributed to low turnout for early voting

PORT DICKSON: Participating in operations and attending courses are among the factors that contributed to the lower voter turnout for early voting in the Port Dickson by-election, says returning officer Khairy Maamor.

“One thing I noticed was that the number of spouses of the military personnel was fewer this time compared to during the general election.

“Maybe they are in their hometowns and could not return to vote,” he said here yesterday.

A total of 90% of early voters cast their ballots during GE14, compared to Tuesday’s 63%, a decline of 27 points.

Three polling stations – the Port Dickson district police headquarters, Army Basic Training Centre (Pusasda) and PD Segenting camp multipurpose hall – opened at 8am.

The early voting was witnessed by the agents of the by-election candidates and observers comprising representatives of NGOs appointed by the Election Commission (EC).

After all the polling stations closed, the ballot boxes were sealed and kept at the Port Dickson district police headquarters lockup and will be opened for the counting of votes on Saturday at the Port Dickson Municipal Council hall.

Khairy, who is also Port Dickson district officer, said 13 polling streams were available at the polling stations.

The three polling streams at the police headquarters – Camps A, B and C – were closed at noon due to the small number of voters there, he said.

Meanwhile, he expects a 70% voter turnout on Saturday.

“If we can get 60%, that would be good enough,” he said.

The Port Dickson parliamentary by-election is the fourth by-election after the May 9 general election.

The previous three were state by-elections for the seats of Sungai Kandis, Seri Setia and Balakong, all in Selangor.

The PD by-election is a seven-cornered contest between PKR president-elect Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of Pakatan Harapan, Lt-Kol (Rtd) Mohd Nazari Mokhtar (PAS) and five independent candidates – former Negri Sembilan mentri besar Tan Sri Isa Samad; former personal aide of Anwar, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan; social media personality Stevie Chan Ken Leong; management consultant Kan Chee Yuen and a former lecturer of a private university Lau Seck Yan.

The Port Dickson constituency has 75,770 registered voters, comprising 43% Malays, Chinese (33%), Indians (22%) and others (2%). — Bernama