ABOUT 50% of eligible voters turned out today to cast their ballots for the Melaka state election as of 2pm, according to the Election Commission (EC).
Although the polling stations only opened at 8am, voters were seen queuing as early as 7.30am to cast their votes.
According to media reports, senior citizens were the first group to come forward to cast their ballots in almost all polling centres, followed by the young voters.
The number far exceeded prediction made by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, who projected that the turnout may not hit the 40% mark due to COVID-19.
Despite minor issues in several areas, Melaka police chief Datuk Razali Abu Samah was reported saying that no untoward incident happened as of 1pm.
One glaring incident was reported by Malaysiakini, where PKR has alleged that an EC officer had chased out their agent at the polling centre in Ayer Molek for exceeding the maximum time allowed on duty.
Mohd Bazain Yusof, who represented Pakatan’s candidate Mohd Rafee Ibrahim for the seat ahd since lodged a police report on the matter, claiming only their coalition’s agent was given the boot.
According to Section 14(1A) of the Election Offences Act 1954, each counting agent on behalf of a candidate is required to remain on duty at the centre for at least two hours.
However, it was said that the issue was resolved but PKR maintained that their agent was absent for 30 minutes from the polling station after being chased out.
In summary, a total of 476,037 voters are eligible to vote in the Melaka state election at 217 voting centres.
The highly-anticipated snap election sees Barisan Nasional (BN), Perikatan Nasional (Perikatan) and Pakatan Harapan (Pakatan) vying to form the next state government.
There are a total of 112 candidates standing in the 28 seats up for grabs, with three six-cornered fights, five five-cornered fights, nine four-cornered fights and 11 three-cornered fights in store.
So far, no COVID-19 SOP violations have been reported.
The Melaka state election was called following the dissolution of the state assembly on Oct 4, following the action of four state assemblymen in withdrawing support for chief minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali.
Pakatan had announced that Adly Zahari, who is contesting the Bukit Katil seat, will become the state chief minister should it win the polls.
On the other hand, BN had retained Sulaiman as its pick for the top job while Perikatan broke convention by announcing Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin as its chief minister candidate. She now serves as a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.
Polling will end at 5.30pm and the results is scheduled to be announced by 9pm.– Nov 20, 2021.
