KUALA BESUT, July 25- The 80 percent voter turn out for the Kuala Besut state seat by-election was a good achievement although it was lower than the 87 percent for the 13th general election said the Election Commission (EC).
EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said though the turn out of voters was 80 percent today compared with 87 percent during the 13th general election, it had met their initial target.
The fact that the by-election was held on a working day today, it had also affected the turnout.
“We see it as a success because even those working in Kuala Lumpur had taken leave to return home and vote,” he told reporters at Dewan Majlis Daerah Besut, here, Wednesday night.
The Kuala Besut state assembly seat has 16,534 eligible voters.
In today’s by-election, Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abd Rahman defeated Endot@Azlan Yusof of PAS by a bigger vote majority of 2,592.
The by-election has been necessitated by the death of assemblyman Dr A. Rahman Mokhtar of the BN due to lung cancer, on June 26.
The late Rahman had won the seat with a 2,434 majority by beating Napisah Ismail of PAS in the general election on May 5.
– BERNAMA
