10.20am: EC says 54.34% of the voters had cast their ballots by 11am.

10.25am: EC says 3,262 voters or 36.25% had cast their vote by 10am.

 

Syed Ibrahim casting his ballot

9.40am: According to the information media centre, as of 9am, a total of 1,399 or 15.55% of voters have cast their ballots.

An EC spokesman said the commission was targeting over 80%. The turnout in the 2008 general election was 80.3%.

9.35am: PAS’ Hassanuddin arrives at SMK kerdau, shaking hands with PAS supporters and waves at Barisan supporters. One Barisan supporter even hugs Hassanuddin, as another Barisan guy tells PAS supporters, “this is the way you should behave.”

9.30am: At Jengka 23, the polling station with the most voters, everything is under control. Voters come as early 7.30 am to the Sekolah Kebangsaan Jengka 23. All supporters have abided by the Election Commission’s regulation not to bring any party logo or flag within 50m of the polling centre. Barisan and PAS have provided cars and motorcycles to ferry voters.

9.00am: KPKR by-election director Suhaimi Said told PAS supporters not to start any trouble at the polling station in Felda Jengka 22.

At SK Kerdau PAS supporters are still chanting slogans. Barisan supporters, including Puteri Umno members, sing “Inilah barisan kita.”

8.30am: The weather is fine and voters are streaming in. Traffic in most areas is still smooth.

8.00am: Voting begins.

The voting station at Felda Jengka 22 has opened. Settler Abdul Samad Mahmud, 57, was the first to cast his vote. “I did not know what time the station will open so I have been waiting since the early morning,” he said.

TEMERLOH: On Sunday, 8,999 registered voters in the Kerdau state constituency went to the polls to choose their representative for the state legislative assembly.

Barisan Nasional and PAS campaigned actively from last Saturday with focus on voters in three Felda land schemes – Felda Jengka 25, Jengka 23 and Jengka 22 with leaders from both parties visiting the constituents tirelessly.

In the by-election, the Barisan candidate, Syed Ibrahim Syed Ahmad, 44, will face Hasanudin Salim, 44, from PAS in a straight fight.

The seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent Assemblyman Datuk Zaharuddin Abu Kasim, 63, on Feb 12.

In terms of the age breakdown, 21.72 percent of the voters are between 40 and 49 years old, followed by 19.72 percent aged between 60 and 69, and 16.71 per cent aged between 21 and 29.

In terms of racial composition, 88.7 percent of the voters are Malays, five percent Chinese, 3.3 percent Indians, 2.6 per cent Orang Asli, 2.4 percent others.

The Kerdau state constituency has 13 polling centres and 22 voting streams.

The vote tallying will be at the Dewan Tun Razak, Temerloh Municipal Council. – Bernama