KLANG: The Election Commission (EC) announced that the voter turnout at the Sungai Kandis by-election stood at about 35& as of 2pm on Saturday (Aug 4).
An early morning shower may have also contributed to the low turnout.
The EC had targeted a voter turnout of 80 percent in the by-election which is being held following the death of its assemblyman, Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei of PKR, due to lymphoma cancer on July 2.
The Sungai Kandis state seat has 51,230 registered voters, comprising 51,217 ordinary voters and 13 absentee voters.
A community hall and 18 schools are being used as polling stations.
According to Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Lokman Noor Adam, he noticed that there were very few Chinese voters coming out to cast their votes.
"I think the Chinese voters who are mostly DAP supporters are frustrated with the Pakatan Harapan Government for the current sluggish economic climate,'' said Lokman.
He added that some of the younger voters could also be unhappy with Pakatan but were not ready to return to Barisan yet and may thus have opted to sit out this by-election.
"I think senior citizens are also not coming out to vote as they fear that they have to climb flights of stairs to cast their votes, like they were made to do in the general election," claimed Lokman.
Pakatan candidate Zawawi Ahmad Mughni said he believed the voter turnout was low because many people worked on Saturday (mornings).
"We are expecting a bigger turnout later in the afternoon," said Zawawi.
He added that another factor could be that many were outstation attending functions such as wedding receptions.
Meanwhile, Kota Raja PAS chief Mohamed Diah Baharun issued a statement that Pakatan must be made to lose by choosing "the lesser of two harmful elements."
The Sungai Kandis state seat forms part of the larger the Kota Raja parliamentary seat.
He added the by-election was a direct fight between Pakatan/PKR and Barisan/Umno, and hence urged PAS members to disregard the independent candidate K. Murthy.
"I am urging all PAS members and supporters to vote for Barisan/Umno candidate Datuk Lokman Noor Adam," said the statement.
The PKR election operation centre has released the unofficial result for the Sungai Kandis by-election, with its candidate Zawawi Ahmad Mughni taking the seat with a reduced majority.Zawawi polled 14,767 votes against Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Lokman Noor Adam's 8,054 and the independent candidate K. Murthy's 89.The voter turnout is believed to be below 51%.(More to come)
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Polling for the Sungai Kandis by-election closed at 5.30pm.
The by-election is a three-cornered contest between PKR's Mohd Zawawi Ahmad Mughni, BN's Lokman Noor Adam, and independent candidate K Murthy.
The Sungai Kandis state seat fell vacant following the death of former PKR incumbent Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei on July 2 due to lymphoma.
In the May 9 general election, Suhaimi won the seat with a 12,480 vote majority.
For live updates on the results of the by-election, follow Malaysiakini's live page here.
LIVE: Sungai Kandis By-Election
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SG KANDIS POLLS | PKR has officially won the Sungai Kandis by-election with a majority of 5,842 votes.
According to the Election Commission, the new assemblyperson, Mohd Zawawi Ahmad Mughni, obtained 15,427 votes, while BN's Lokman Adam secured 9,585 votes.
Independent candidate K Murthy only received 97 votes.
Only 49.4 percent of Sungai Kandis voters cast their ballots.
At a press conference later, Zawawi thanked Harapan leaders and groups who had supported his candidacy.
Asked about issues that he would be raising in the Selangor state assembly, Zawawi reiterated that a large number of voters had highlighted various problems related to basic infrastructure within the constituency.
"I would like to reiterate my commitment towards assisting the voters here," he said, noting that there were plans approved by the state which have yet to be executed.
Also present was Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari, who highlighted that PKR had today won two polling districts - Sungai Kandis and Kampung Pandan - which it had previously lost to BN in the 14th general election.
However, he added: "But in the Sri Gambut and Bukit Naga polling districts where we won with single-digit majority in GE14, this time we lost with over 100 votes."
Other leaders seen in the Dewan Besar Tanjung in Sungai Kandis included Selangor PKR elections director Dr Xavier Jeyakumar and Amanah president Mohamad Sabu.
PKR's vote share increased by 5.8 percent in this by-election, from 55.6 percent in GE14 to 61.4 percent today.
However, BN's vote share saw a comparatively larger increase of 11.5 percent, from 26.7 percent in GE14 to 38.2 percent in the by-election.
This was likely due to a split in PAS supporters. PAS' vote share stood at 17.5 percent in the last general election.
The Sungai Kandis state seat fell vacant following the death of former PKR incumbent Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei on July 2 due to lymphoma.
In the May 9 general election, Shuhaimi won the seat with a 12,480-vote majority.
For live updates on the results of the by-election, follow Malaysiakini's live page here.
LIVE: Sungai Kandis By-Election
