TANAH RATA: Polling for the Cameron Highlands parliamentary by-election went smoothly, as at 9 am, at all the 29 polling centres which were opened simultaneously at 8 am today, said Election Commission (EC) chairman Azhar Azizan Harun.
“From my observation, everything is going smoothly (as at 9 am) and there will be more people coming out to vote,” he told reporters after observing the voting process at the polling station at Sekolah Kebangsaan Kampung Raja here.
The highland electorate that encompasses two state assembly seats within – Tanah Rata and Jelai – has 31,639 eligible voters.
Four candidates are vying for the parliamentary seat – Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate M. Manogaran, Barisan Nasional’s Ramli Mohd Nor, and two independents, Sallehudin and Wong Seng Yee.
However, only Wong and Sallehudin went to the polls today, at SJK(C) Bertam Valley and SK Sungai Koyan, respectively since Manogaran and Ramli are not registered voters in the Cameron Highlands.
The by-election was called after the Election Court on Nov 30 last year annulled the victory of Datuk C. Sivarraajh of the BN in the 14th general election due to vote-buying.
Meanwhile, Azhar said the EC had not received any report or complaints of candidates not adhering to campaign regulations.
The EC has not received any report of candidates campaigning after 11.59 pm yesterday, he added.
Traffic volume to the highland resort began to increase by noon, but the situation was under control with policemen stationed along the way to ease traffic flow.
Pahang police chief Datuk Mohd Zakaria Ahmad said traffic situation was still under control.
“So far, there is no complaint of traffic congestion or anything concerning the election.
“We have placed adequate policemen to ensure everything goes on smoothly, especially with the highlands always the focus by local tourists during weekend,” he said after a visit to the polling centre at Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (C) Bertam Valley here.
The polling centres, which were opened simultaneously at 8 am, will close in stages from 1 pm. — Bernama
