PUTRAJAYA, July 30 — The Election Commission (EC) today fixed September 8 for the Balakong by-election.

Nomination day is on August 18 and early voters polling day is on September 4, EC deputy chairman Tan Sri Othman Mahmood said after the special meeting on the poll, providing for a 21-day campaign period.

The Selangor state seat became vacant following the death of its DAP elected assemblyman Eddie Ng Tien Chee, 40, in a car crash on July 20.

"The electoral roll to be used for this by-election is the first quarter of 2018, which is updated until July 20, 2018.

"The electoral roll contains 62,219 registered voters comprising 62,160 ordinary voters, 31 early voters and 28 absent voters living abroad,” he told reporters at a press conference at EC headquarter here, today.

Othman said the overseas and domestic postal voting applications would be opened from today and closes on August 18.

EC has agreed to appoint Hulu Langat district officer Datuk Rosli Othman as the election manager, assisted by three assistant election managers and 998 personnel appointed from the public.

Dewan Utama Demesne Pejabat Daerah dan Tanah Hulu Langat will be used as the nomination centre and the official vote tallying centre, he said.

"For this Balakong by-election, we have made same improvements as the Sungai Kandis by-election by creating two channels for voters aged 60 years and above, and extending 30 minutes of polling period from 8.00am until 5.30pm compared to 5.00pm previously.

"EC will add another 29 new channels in polling centres, with total of 129 channels compared to 100 channels in GE14. The estimated allocation needed for this improvements is around RM1.5 million,” he added.

Election Commission deputy chairman Tan Sri Othman Mahmood (left) referencing the Balakong area during a press conference in Putrajaya July 30, 2018.

The commission also made another improvement by increasing polling boxes to three, compared to two boxes previously.

"With these improvements, we hope they can reduce crowded voters at the polling stations so that they can fulfill their duty with ease,” Othman said.

During the by-election, EC said that any non-government organisations (NGOs) or persons with disabilities (OKUs) who are interested to observe the by-election process may apply to do so. The application closes on August 6.

In the GE14, Ng retained his Balakong seat for the second term after defeating Lim Chin Wah from Barisan Nasional and Mohamad Ibrahim Ghazali (PAS) with a 35,538-vote majority.