Official: Barisan wins in Semenyih with a 1,914 vote majority

BN candidate Zakaria Hanafi with his wife Katija Beebi Bayikhan show their fingers marked with indelible ink after casting their votes at JKK Kg Sesapan Kelubi polling centre. AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star

SEMENYIH: It's official! With all ballot boxes counted, Barisan's Zakaria Hanafi, 58, is the winner in the Semenyih by-election with 19,780 votes.

Zakaria has a majority of 1,914 votes ahead of Pakatan Harapan's Muhammad Aiman, 30, who picked up 17,866 votes so far.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia's Nik Aziz Afiq Abdul and Independent candidate Kuan Chee Heng picked up 847 votes and 725 votes, respectively, meaning both are likely to lose their deposits.

At 8.12pm, the Election Commission (EC) confirmed that voter turnout for the by-election was 73.3%, surpassing its initial target of 70%.

The Semenyih by-election was triggered due to the death of Pakatan incumbent Bakhtiar Mohd Nor from a heart attack on Jan 11.

In GE14, Bakhtiar won a four-cornered fight against Barisan's Datuk Johan Abd Aziz, PAS' Mad Shahmiour Mat Kosim and PSM's S. Arutchelvan by a majority of 8,964 votes.

The Semenyih polls is the sixth by-election post-GE14, and the second to be held in 2019 after Cameron Highlands.

It is also the fourth by-election for the Selangor state assembly, following Sungai Kandis (Aug 4, 2018), Balakong and Seri Setia (jointly held on Sept 8, 2018).