DESPITE concerns over the spread of Covid-19, voters were not deterred from fulfilling their civic responsibility and turning up to vote in the Chini by-election, with voter turnout exceeding the 70% target.

Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the target was achieved even though local and outstation voters had to go through stringent standard operating procedures (SOPs) during the voting process.

“Overall, the SOPs were followed and enforcement officers in uniform were there to help monitor and ensure compliance.

“The only thing that was difficult to adhere to was maintaining social distance. Other than that, all went smoothly as we had no problems with body temperature checks or hand sanitisation when entering the polling centre,” he said in Pekan today.

As at 4pm, 72% of the 20,816 ordinary voters in the Chini constituency had cast their vote, surpassing the Election Commission’s target.

Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri once again said Malaysia is still not allowing foreigners to enter the country except for diplomats, Malaysia My Second Home programme participants, students and EP1 category top management expatriates. 

“Although we have of late recorded single-digit Covid-19 positive cases, on the advice of the Health Ministry, Malaysia is still not ready to open its borders, just as with other countries, with the exception of Britain, which did so yesterday,” he said.

In this regard, he said a news portal report yesterday on the National Security Council in discussion to allow Chinese nationals entry into the country is inaccurate and misleading. – Bernama, July 4, 2020.