Nenggiri: Twenty polling centres open at 8am

GUA MUSANG: Twenty polling stations with 46 channels open simultaneously at 8am on Saturday (Aug 17) for the Nenggiri state by-election.

According to the Meteorological Department, fine weather is forecast for the morning, and this condition is expected to continue until 6pm when the polling stations will close.

The two candidates in the by-election, namely Barisan Nasional candidate Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani representing the unity government and PAS candidate Mohd Rizwadi Ismail representing Perikatan Nasional, will vote at the same polling station, which is at Tabika Sri Bakawali, Bertam Lama, which is about an hour drive from the Gua Musang town.

Of the 20 polling stations, six of them will close earlier as they have a small number of voters.

Two of them, at Dewan Orang Ramai Pos Simpor and Sekolah Kebangsaan(SK) Pulat, will close at 3pm, while the ones at SK Tohoi, Pusat Pendidikan Komuniti Pos Gob, SK Sri Permai and SK Kuala Sungai will close at 2pm.

The official vote tallying centre is at Dewan Perdana, Perdana Complex, Gua Musang District Council. The official results are expected to be announced by the Returning Officer Nik Raisnan Daud at 9pm at the earliest.

A total of 20,259 registered voters are eligible to vote in the by-election with the Election Commission (EC) having appointed 431 workers to ensure a smooth polling.

No early voting was held as all the 43 early voters in the constituency, including 14 police personnel, opted to vote by post.

The Nenggiri by-election was called following the vacancy of the seat, as announced by Kelantan state assembly Speaker Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah on June 19, after the former incumbent, Mohd Azizi Abu Naim lost his Bersatu membership on June 13.- Bernama