Over 160,000 voters in Padang Serai, Tioman go to the polls

More than 160,000 registered electors will go to the polls today to elect new representatives for the Padang Serai parliamentary constituency in Kedah and the Tioman state constituency in Pahang in the 15th general election (GE15) today.

According to the Election Commission (EC), there are 132,955 voters in Padang Serai and 28,108 in Tioman.

A total of 46 polling centres with 230 voting streams in Padang Serai, and 17 polling centres with 52 voting streams in Tioman will open from 8am to 6pm.

The EC encourages the voters to wear face masks, use hand sanitiser, and practise physical distancing while at the polling centres, while those who are Covid-positive should liaise with the district health officers at the centre for further instructions.

Voters are also advised to come during the gazetted time or the time proposed by the EC as stated in their voter’s information slip and not to do so at the last minute.

Polling for the two seats could not be held on Nov 19 due to the deaths of candidates, namely M Karupaiya of Pakatan Harapan (PH) for Padang Serai and Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Md Yunus Ramli for Tioman.

Karupaiya, 69, died on Nov 16, believed to be from a heart attack and health complications, while Md Yunus, 61, died on polling day for GE15 on Nov 19.

The contest for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat will see a six-cornered fight among PH candidate Mohamad Sofee Razak, C Sivaraj (Barisan Nasional), Azman Nasrudin (PN) and Hamzah Abd Rahman (Pejuang).

The other two contenders are Mohd Bakhri Hashim, representing Warisan, and independent candidate Sreanandha Rao. However, on Dec 2, BN agreed to give way to PH for the parliamentary seat.

Meanwhile, the Tioman state seat will witness a five-cornered fight among PN candidate Nor Idayu Hashim, Mohd Johari Hussain (BN), Osman A Bakar (Pejuang) and Sulaiman Bakar (independent). 

The other candidate, Mohd Fadzli Mohd Ramly of PH, is making way for the BN candidate to increase the latter’s chances of winning, although his name will still be on the ballot papers.

According to the EC, the status of the candidates cannot be changed after their nominations are accepted.