SHAHRIL Hamdan, a close aide to Umno presidential hopeful Khairy Jamaluddin, became the first to cross the finish line in the race for the deputy Youth chief post, getting 98 out of a possible 191 divisional votes.

The result was tweeted by @PemilihanUmno2018 at 11.30pm yesterday.

The tweet said in second spot was Bastien Onn, an aide to Tengku Razaleigh Tengku Hamzah, who, like Khairy, is gunning for the party’s top post.

Khairy’s deputy, Senator Khairul Aswan Harun, was leading in the closely fought race for the post of Youth chief.

As at 11.31pm, Khairul was leading with 56 votes, leaving behind Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki (53) and Pahang Youth chief Shahar Abdullah (51).

Maverick – and wanted – Sungai Besar Umno chief Jamal Md Yunos received just one vote.

In the Puteri race, Zahida Zarik Khan was leading by a mile with 68 votes. Hazreena Hashim got only seven.

In the three-way contest for the Wanita chief post, Azizah Mohd Dun garnered 29 votes and Dr Noraini Ahmad, 25. Zaharah Sulaiman had yet to receive a single vote.

Umno’s elections use a mix of delegate voting and the electoral college system.

At 12.30am, Umno executive secretary Ab Raus Yusof said more than 50 divisions are still meeting, and as such, he will not announce any results until they have been verified by Umno’s head office.

“Any results on social media now are the unofficial results. I won’t announce any results now to avoid controversy.”

He said there will be a press conference at 5pm today to announce the official results. – June 24, 2018.