EC chief says voting going smoothly in Cameron Highlands

TANAH RATA (Bernama): Polling for the Cameron Highlands parliamentary by-election has been going smoothly after all 29 polling centres were opened simultaneously at 8am on Saturday (Jan 26), says Election Commission (EC) chairman Azhar Azizan Harun.

"From my observation, everything is going smoothly (as at 9am), and there will be more people coming out to vote," he told reporters after observing the voting process at the polling station at SK Kampung Raja here.

The highland electorate , which encompasses two state assembly seats within it, Tanah Rata and Jelai, has 31,639 eligible voters.

Four candidates are vying for the parliamentary seat - Pakatan Harapan candidate M. Manogaran, Barisan Nasional's Ramli Mohd Nor, and two independents, Sallehudin Ab Talib and Wong Seng Yee.

However, only Wong and Sallehudin went to the polls today, at SJKC Bertam Valley and SK Sungai Koyan, respectively as Manogaran and Ramli are not registered voters in Cameron Highlands.

The by-election was called after the Election Court on Nov 30 last year annulled the victory of Datuk C. Sivarraajh of Barisan in the 14th General Election due to vote-buying.

Meanwhile, Azhar said the EC had not received any report or complaints of candidates not adhering to campaign regulations. – Bernama