Patiently waiting: Army personnel queueing to cast their ballot at the Kem Mahkota early voting centre. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
KLUANG: The Election Commission predicts the voter turnout for the Mahkota by-election will be high based on the encouraging turnout rate for early voting.
EC chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun said voter turnout yesterday was at 95.45% or 4,437 voters when the process ended at 5pm.
There are 4,510 army personnel and their spouses, as well as 401 police personnel who were early voters, said Ramlan when met at the Kem Mahkota early voting centre.
Many of them had turned up at the three early voting centres from 7am with their spouse and young children in tow.
Ramlan added the commission was hoping the turnout rate for the by-election will exceed that of the Nenggiri polls in Kelantan, which took place last month.
“The Nenggiri by-election saw a turnout rate of over 70%. We hope to see a high turnout here –our target is as high as possible so I encourage all Mahkota voters to head out on polling day,” he said, which is Saturday.
The seat has an electoral roll of 66,318 voters, where 61,397 are regular voters who are eligible to cast their ballots .
The Mahkota by-election is a straight fight between Barisan Nasional candidate Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah, 40, and Perikatan Nasional’s Mohamad Haizan Jaafar, 61.
The by-election is held following the death of the incumbent assemblyman, Datuk Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain, 63, on Aug 2.
Separately, Johor police chief Comm Datuk M. Kumar said an investigation has been opened on allegations that government resources had been used to influence voters.
“Since Nomination Day on Sept 14, we have received two police reports from two separate individuals.
“One of them is about the allegations, which we are currently investigating,” he told the media after visiting the early voting centre at the Kluang district police headquarters.
He added that the case was being investigated under Section 4(A) of the Election Offences Act 1954 and 233 of the Communications & Multimedia Act 1998.
Last Sunday, Bersatu information committee member Badrul Hisham Shaharin filed a police report claiming that thousands of ringgit worth of prizes offered during the recent Jelajah Orang Mahkota programme could be considered election goodies.
Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi has denied the allegations, saying that it was not a political programme and that anyone, regardless of political affiliation could attend it.
On the other police report, Comm Kumar said no investigation papers were opened as no offence was committed.
He also said the police have received and approved a total of 96 applications for campaigning activities so far, where 27 were applications for ceramah, 42 for broadcast or live sessions and 27 for walkabouts.
He added both parties involved in the by-election have been compliant with the authorities so far.
