KINABATANGAN: Early voting for the Kinabatangan parliamentary and Lamag state by-elections began smoothly on Tuesday (Jan 20), involving police personnel scheduled for duty on polling day.
Kinabatangan OCPD Ravi Duraisamy said early voting was conducted at the district police headquarters (IPD) here, with one polling stream opened for the process.
“Early voting today involves police personnel who will be on duty on polling day, allowing them to fulfil their responsibility as voters. Voting is taking place at the IPD hall and so far everything is running smoothly without any issues,” he told reporters.
Ravi said a total of 176 early voters are expected to cast their ballots at the centre, adding that police hope all eligible voters will turn up as the polling is conducted within a controlled environment at the IPD compound.
Meanwhile, Election Commission (EC) chairman Ramlan Harun was also present at the Kinabatangan district police headquarters to inspect the early voting process.
As of 9am, 38 voters, or about 20.1%, had cast their ballots. The early voting centre is scheduled to close at 5pm.
In a separate development, Ravi said police have issued a total of 128 permits for ceramah and campaign activities for the two by-elections as of Monday (Jan 19), involving candidates from Barisan Nasional, Parti Warisan and an independent candidate.
“To date, no permit applications have been rejected and all parties are adhering to the guidelines that have been issued,” he said, adding that police have received only one complaint during the campaign period, which has been referred to the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Election Commission.
Ravi also said a total of 927 police personnel from nearby district police headquarters and the Sabah police contingent have been deployed to help ensure the smooth conduct of the polling process.
He reminded all candidates, their agents and supporters to comply with the standard operating procedures set by the authorities to avoid any untoward incidents during the campaign period and on polling day.
Polling for the Kinabatangan parliamentary and Lamag state by-elections will be held on Saturday (Jan 24).
