ONLY a quarter of the voters at Balakong and Seri Setia in Selangor have voted in the two by-elections as of noon today.

The voter turnout was 25% for Balakong and 28% for Seri Setia, according to the Election Commission.

There are 62,219 registered voters in Balakong and 53,492 voters in Seri Setia.

The Election Commission is aiming for a 70% voter turnout as the by-elections are happening a mere four months after the 14th general election on May 9.

EC secretary Mohamed Elias Abu Bakar urged voters to come out and vote as the turnout has been low so far.

“There is still time. We urge voters to come out and exercise their duties,” he told reporters at SMK Cheras Perdana.

“The EC visited four polling centres in Balakong so far and found everything to be in order.”

The by-elections were called after incumbent DAP assemblyman Eddie Ng Tien Chee died in a car accident on July 20 and former Selangor exco Dr Shaharuddin Baharuddin died due to cancer on August 2.

It is a straight fight between MCA and Pakatan Harapan in Balakong, and between PAS and PH in Seri Setia.

The voter turnout in the Seri Setia by-election, which recorded 28% as of noon today, is 1% more than what was recorded in the Sg Kandis by-election on August 4 at the same time.

Voter turnout had been the main focus for this by-election as the previous one in Sg Kandis recorded the second lowest turnout, which was 49.4%.

The lowest turnout record was set in 2009 in the Penanti, Penang by-election.

PH candidate for Seri Setia, Halimey Abu Bakar of PKR, had previously said the coalition will boost its campaign strategy in Seri Setia to increase the turnout rate.

Halimey said the pact had identified what went wrong in Sg Kandis, and added that it would rectify its mistakes, without elaborating on what they were.

Halimey will be going against PAS’ Dr Halimah Ali in the by-election.

In GE14, incumbent Shaharuddin, of PH, won with a 19,372-vote majority. He secured 29,250 votes in a four-cornered fight against Barisan Nasional’s Yusoff M. Haniff, Mohd Ghazali Daud (PAS), and Vigneswaran Subramaniam (independent).

Seri Setia has 52,650 eligible voters, comprising 55% Malays, Chinese (20%), Indians (24%) and others (2%).

MCA and PAS have campaigned against PH for failing to fulfill its 100-day election promises, while PH have urged the people to vote them in again to show the new government in Putrajaya has the continued support of the people.

The Selangor Information Department has despatched vehicles to urge voters to come out to vote since Tuesday. – September 8, 2018.