TELUK INTAN, May 29 —  With just one day left before polling, DAP’s Dr Ong Kian Ming said today that the party only estimates 10 per cent of voters living outside Teluk Intan to cast their ballots in the by-election this Saturday.

Ong, who leads the DAP outstation voter campaign, said only one in every 10 voter queried by the party indicated plans to return for the by-election, which could prove dangerous for the DAP.

He said a low voter turnout of less than 65 per cent could cost his party the Teluk Intan federal seat in Perak.

“We hope people will take this by-election seriously,” Ong told a press conference at the DAP operations centre here today.

The Serdang MP said 10 per cent of Teluk Intan’s 60,349-strong electorate reside outside the constituency, which equals to about 6,000 outstation voters who are generally pro-opposition.

DAP’s Seah Leong Peng had defeated Gerakan president Datuk Mah Siew Keong in the 13th general election last year by over 7,000 votes.

While the voter turnout in Teluk Intan hit a whopping 80 per cent in Election 2013, Gerakan has said that the average voter turnout in the semi-urban constituency is between 65 and 70 per cent.

Ong said today that the DAP has contacted 1,000 outstation voters so far, out of which only half said they are returning to vote.

“Most people who said they couldn’t come back is because they can’t apply for leave, it’s costly, or they’re busy,” said Ong.

He added that two buses containing 80 voters have been booked to ferry them to Teluk Intan from Kuala Lumpur, while another bus of 40 voters has been booked to return them to Johor from Teluk Intan after the election.

“Most of the people said they’ll come back using their own transportation,” said Ong.

DAP’s Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud will take on Mah in a straight fight for the Teluk Intan federal seat in Perak on Saturday.