PUTRAJAYA, Oct 3 — The by-election for the Sungai Limau state seat in Kedah will be held on November 4, the Election Commission (EC) announced today.

Nomination day will fall on October 23, EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof told a press conference here.

The by-election will come right after Budget 2014 on October 25, contrary to requests from the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

“Among the EC, the budget is completely not in our consideration. Most important is for the by-election to come before SPM,” Abdul Aziz told reporters here, referring to the nationwide secondary school examination Malaysian Certificate of Education by its Malay initials.

Yan district officer Abd Rashid Othman has been named as the by-election manager.

The by-election, the second since the May 5 general election, is expected to cost the EC an estimated RM1.3 million, Abdul Aziz added.

A total of 27,220 civilian voters and two overseas voters will cast their ballots. No advance voting will be held.

The by-election will use the main electoral roll from 2012, in addition to the first and second quarters’ roll last updated at September 26.

Abdul Aziz also confirmed that EC will use the same indelible ink and method as the one used in the Kuala Besut by-election in July.

The state assembly seat was left vacant after its assemblyman Tan Sri Azizan Abdul Razak passed away last week from a serious heart complication.

The speaker of Kedah state assembly has subsequently informed the EC of the vacancy on September 29.

In the May polls, Azizan won against Umno’s Mohd Fazillah Mohd Ali and two independent candidates with a 2,774 majority.

The former Kedah mentri besar had been the incumbent assemblyman since winning the seat in the 2004 general elections.

Malays make up 93 per cent of the voters in Sungai Limau, followed by Chinese at 7 per cent.