TELUK INTAN, May 31 — The Teluk Intan by-election appears headed for a recount, with the unofficial tally putting Barisan Nasional (BN) and DAP within tens of votes of one another.

Numbers emerging from the tallying centre has DAP’s Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud ahead with 19830 votes against BN’s Datuk Mah Siew Keong with 19805, but rumours are spreading of early celebration at the latter camp in anticipation of victory.

The by-election today saw an unusually small turnout of 66.7 per cent and a lower than anticipated Chinese vote for DAP, swinging the poll in BN’s favour.

“DAP is leading now but BN is likely to win. We managed to get about 65 per cent of the Chinese votes,” a Perak DAP source told The Malay Mail Online.

“Our majority in Chinese areas is not big enough.”

DAP gambled on fielding Dyana Sofya, a 26-year-old Malay woman, in the Chinese majority constituency and witnessed early dissent among the community over her choice.

Faced with the looming defeat, Perak DAP chief Datuk Nga Kor Ming concurred that a loss would indicate that Malaysians were not ready to move beyond communal politics or immune to BN’s racially-tailored campaigning.

“If that happens, my heart is broken,” Nga told The Malay Mail Online when asked of the possible loss.

Reporters are now crowding a projector screen displaying the official results at the tallying centre at SMK Abdul Rahman Talib, where counting began shortly after polling closed at 5pm.

Supporters are also gathering at a football field outside the centre where two projectors have been set up to display the vote tally, with members of the police’s Light Strike Force in between.

Both candidates are also expected to arrive at the tallying centre for the announcement.

MORE TO COME 

Election Commission officials carry ballot boxes to be counted in Teluk Intan, May 31, 2014. — Picture by Saw Siow Feng