KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 – The Election Commission (EC) is to make sure that the stain of the indelible ink used to mark voters remains longer on the finger of voters in the Kuala Besut state by-election.
It announced today that voters will have to dip their left index finger into the ink instead of having it brushed onto the finger as in the last general election.
EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said in a statement that the indelible ink would be used for advance voting on July 20 and polling on July 24.
Friday is the nomination day for the by-election, which has been necessitated by the death of assemblyman Dr A. Rahman Mokhtar of the BN of lung cancer on June 26.
Abdul Aziz advised Kuala Besut voters to check and verify their polling stations and streams, saying that voters whose names did not appear on the electoral roll would not be allowed to vote.
He said the EC had selected the Rakan Muda Complex in Kampung Raja Besut, Kuala Besut, as the nomination centre. Nominations will be accepted between 9 am and 10 am on Friday.
The Barisan Nasional has announced Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abd Rahman, 37, a civil engineer with the Drainage and Irrigation Department who hails from Kuala Besut, as its candidate while PAS has named Endot alias Azlan Yusof, 48, a contractor, as its candidate.
Abdul Aziz advised supporters of political parties to avoid resorting to untoward incidents which could mar the nomination process.
He reminded them that the Election Offences Act prohibited supporters who accompanied the candidates to the nomination centre from bringing along musical instruments and loud hailers and engaging in political ‘ceramah’ (talk).
Only the proposer of the candidate and the seconder would be allowed to enter the nomination centre, he said.
He also said that the campaign period for the by-election would only begin after the returning officer had declared a contest and it would end at midnight on July 23.
Abdul Aziz said an enforcement team would be set up to monitor the campaign.
In the last general election, on May 5, Dr Rahman had won the seat with a 2,434 majority by beating Napisah Ismail of PAS. Kuala Besut has 17,683 voters.
– BERNAMA
