THE Election Commission opened the Padang Serai constituency for postal voting applications yesterday, with the window closing on Tuesday.

EC secretary Ikmalrudin Ishak said applications for Category 1A, (election officers, EC members or officers, police, armed forces and members of the media), must be made manually using Form 1A.

“Form 1A can be downloaded from the EC portal and sent to the P017 Padang Serai returning officer’s office,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Category 1B (Malaysians abroad) and Category 1C (agencies or organisations) applicants must also submit forms online, he said.

For enquiries, constituents can contact the Postal Vote Management Unit at 03-8892 7040.

Earlier, EC chairman Abdul Ghani Salleh said in a statement that polling for Padang Serai would not be held today.

Instead, a by-election will be held on December 7, with nominations on November 24 and early voting on December 3.

Ghani said the EC received the election writ, which was returned by the Padang Serai returning officer on Wednesday, in connection with the death of Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate M. Karupaiya on the same day.

Karupaiya, 69, the seat incumbent, died at Hospital Kulim at 2.27pm on Wednesday after suffering a heart attack and collapsing during his campaign rounds on Monday.

Karupaiya was to have faced Hamzah Abd Rahman (Gerakan Tanah Air-Pejuang), C. Sivaraajh (Barisan Nasional-MIC), Mohd Bakhri Hashim (Warisan), Azman Nasrudin (Perikatan Nasional-Bersatu) and Sreanandha Rao (Ind).

In 2018, Karupaiya won the seat by a majority of 8,813 votes, beating PAS’s Muhamad Sobri Osman and Barisan Nasional’s Leong Yong Kong. – Bernama, November 19, 2022.