KLUANG – The Mahkota state by-election polling day has started this morning with 61,274 voters expected to cast their ballots.
At 8am today, 20 polling stations comprising 109 channels opened for voters and will close simultaneously at 6pm later.
The Meteorological Department predicted fair weather in the area this morning, but thunderstorms are forecasted for the afternoon.
Early voting for the by-election was held last Tuesday for 4,437 voters involving military personnel, their spouses, and police personnel at three voting centres.
607 postal ballot papers were issued on September 15.
A total of 66,318 voters are registered in the Mahkota state constituency electoral roll. This comprises 56% Malay, 34% Chinese, and 8% Indian voters.
The Mahkota by-election sees a straight fight between Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah and Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Mohamad Haizan Jaafar.
Syed Hussien, 40, will be voting at SMK Seri Perdana while Mohamad Haizan, 61, at SMK Kg Melayu.
The Mahkota state by-election was called following the death of its incumbent, Datuk Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain, 63, last August 2.
Sharifah Azizah, of BN, won the seat in the state election in 2022 with a majority of 5,166 votes in a four-cornered fight involving Pakatan Harapan (PH), PN and Warisan candidates.
The Mahkota state seat was first contested in 2004 and has gone through five general elections with BN winning four of them
This is the fourth by-election held this year. The first was the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election in Selangor, followed by Sg Bakap, in Penang, and the Nenggiri by-election in Kelantan. – September 28, 2024