GE15: EC opens postal vote applications for Padang Serai

KUALA LUMPUR: Applications for domestic and international postal voting for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat in the 15th General Election (GE15) have been opened from Friday (Nov 18) until Tuesday (Nov 22).

EC secretary Datuk Ikmalrudin Ishak said postal vote applications for Category 1A, (election officers, EC members or officers, police, army personnel and members of the media), must be made manually using Form 1A.

"Form 1A can be downloaded from the EC’s official portal at www.spr.gov.my and sent to the P017 Padang Serai returning officer’s office,” he said in a statement Friday.

For Category 1B (Malaysians abroad) and Category 1C (agencies or organisations), applications must be submitted online through myspr.spr.gov.my/login, he said.

For enquiries or clarifications, contact the Postal Vote Management Unit at 03-8892 7040.

Earlier, EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh said in a statement that polling for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat in Kedah would not be held together with GE15 on Saturday (Nov 19) and has, instead, been fixed for Dec 7, with the nomination of candidates on Nov 24 and early voting on Dec 3.

Abdul Ghani said the EC received the Election Writ which was returned by the Padang Serai returning officer on Wednesday (Nov 16), in connection with the death of Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate M. Karupaiya on the same day.

Karupaiya, 69, who was the incumbent Padang Serai MP, died at Hospital Kulim at 2.27pm on Wednesday after suffering a heart attack and collapsing during his campaign rounds on Monday (Nov 14).

Karupaiya was to have faced a six-cornered fight against Hamzah Abd Rahman (Pejuang), Datuk C. Sivaraajh (Barisan Nasional), Mohd Bakhri Hashim (Warisan), Datuk Azman Nasrudin (Perikatan Nasional) and independent candidate Sreanandha Rao.

In GE14, Karupaiya won the seat by a majority of 8,813 votes, beating PAS’ Muhamad Sobri Osman and Barisan Nasional’s Datuk Dr Leong Yong Kong. - Bernama