TANAH RATA: Following improvement in the communication system between the channels and the vote counting centre, the Election Commission (EC) expects the Cameron Highlands by-election results to be announced before 10pm on Jan 26.
EC chairman Azhar Azizan Harun (pix) told Bernama here today that direct communication systems among others by using Whatsapp had proven to speed up and smoothen the vote counting management system in the previous three by-elections, namely, Balakong, Seri Setia and Port Dickson.
“When form 14 is filled and signed by the Head of the Voting Centre it will be communicated directly to the vote counting centre which will tally these numbers without waiting for the hard copies to arrive. We make the confirmation only when the hard copies arrive and we can immediately make the announcement.
‘’In addition here (Cameron Highlands by-election), we will post the latest data, which is yet to be confirmed, in the EC portal (so, this system will help),’’ he said.
Earlier, in a press conference as soon as the nomination process was completed, he reiterated his expectation that the percentage of voters coming out to vote was at 70%.
Meanwhile, to monitor the 14-day campaign period, the EC had set up four Election Campaign Enforcement Team in accordance with the provisions of the law under Section 27B of the Election Offences Act 1954
At the by-election this time, the EC also provided a Letter of Promise containing 10 promises to be signed by each candidate so that they would comply with all the rules set forth under the Election Offences Act 1954.
The by-election, which was held after the Special Election Court on Nov 30, declared the victory of Datuk C. Sivarraajh from Barisan Nasional (BN) in the 14th General Election for the parliament, null and void.
The by-election would see a four-cornered fight between Pahang DAP deputy chairman M. Manogaran, 60, representing PH, former senior police officer Ramli Mohd Nor, 61, (BN) and former lecturer at Aminuddin Baki Institute, Sallehudin Ab Talib, 61, and farmer Wong Seng Yee, 40, as independent candidates.
In GE14, Sivarraajh won the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat in a five-cornered fight with 10,307 votes beat Manogaran with 9,710 votes; Wan Mahadir Wan Mahmud (PAS / 3,587 votes); Mohd Tahir Kassim (Berjasa / 81 votes) and B. Suresh Kumar from Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM / 680 votes). — Bernama
