AT LEAST 72% of the 20,816 voters in the Chini by-election had cast their ballots by 4pm.

This turnout has now exceeded the Election Commission’s 70% target.

The voting process in 13 voting centres, involving 65 channels, began at 8am and was due to end at 5.30pm.

EC deputy chairman Dr Azmi Sharom said, based on what he saw, social distancing standard operating procedures (SOPs) have been observed well.

However, he also admitted that some found it hard to follow.

As for security, there have been no reports of untoward incidents with a police presence near all polling centres.

No police roadblocks have been sighted so far, but it is learnt that once polling ends, they will be mounted along Jalan Kuantan-Segamat, which leads to the tallying centre at the National Youth Skills Institute, as the authorities are attempting to prevent large crowds gathering, except for those with special passes. 

The Chini by-election is a three-horse race between Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Mohd Sharim Md Zain, 41, who is a Felda Chini second-generation settler, and two independent candidates: businessman Tengku Zainul Hisham Tengku Hussin, 64, and blogger Mohd Shukri Mohd Ramli, 49.

The by-election was held following the death of incumbent Abu Bakar Harun, 60, at Hospital Kuala Lumpur due to a heart attack on May 7. Abu Bakar had been Chini assemblyman since the 11th general election in 2004.

It is the first by-election to be held since enforcement of the movement control order (MCO) on March 18, with several SOPs introduced, including special streams for voters aged 60 and above.

In the 14th general election, Abu Bakar retained the Chini seat with a majority of 4,622 votes, after securing 10,027 votes against PAS candidate Mohd Fadhil Noor Abdul Karim, who obtained 5,405 votes and PKR’s Mohamad Razali Ithnain, with 1,065 votes. – Bernama, July 4, 2020.