THE Sungai Bakap by-election commenced today under grey skies with an early morning downpour.

A crowd gathered at the Jawi multipurpose hall, near the Sungai Bakap hospital, some 38km away from the George Town state capital.

Returning officer Khairulnizam Hashim is expected to announce the names of the election candidates at 11am.

July 6 is polling day and early voting on July 2. The 14-day campaign period will begin today and continue until 11.59pm on July 5.

Perikatan Nasional (PN), the incumbent coalition, is fielding PAS Nibong Tebal vice-chairman Abidin Ismail.

Abidin was the aide to the late assemblyman Nor Zamri Latiff, who died last month.

His challenger is Dr Joohari Ariffin, 60, a local teacher and community leader, of Pakatan Harapan (PH), which is the underdog in the race.

Sungai Bakap is considered a PAS stronghold as the constituency borders Kedah, where the Islamist party is most dominant.

The electoral roll for Sungai Bakap has 39,279 voters, consisting of 39,222 regular voters and 57 police officers.

A total of 522 election workers will manage the by-election process while over 600 police officers will be deployed to ensure security.

In the Penang state elections last August, Nor Zamri, who was also the Nibong Tebal PAS chief, defeated Pakatan Harapan candidate Nurhidayah Che Rose by 1,563 votes.

The Sungai Bakap by-election is the eighth to be held after the 2022 general election. – June 22, 2024.