SEMENYIH, March 2 — Up to 63 per cent of the 53,411 voters have cast their ballots in the Semenyih state by-election as of 3pm, according to the Election Commission (EC).

The EC had forecast a 70 per cent turnout for the by-election.

Polling has been going on at the 24 polling stations where 116 polling streams are open from 8 am to 5.30 pm.

EC chairman Azhar Azizan Harun monitored the voting at several polling stations since this morning, among them those at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Bandar Seri Putra; Sekolah Rendah Agama Batu Tiga and SMK Bandar Rinching

The EC also intervened quickly and checked several election offences, such as canvassing for votes and booths set up close to some of the polling stations.

Azhar reminded the candidates it was an offence to canvass for votes on polling day.

A check by Bernama found large numbers of voters at polling stations in the morning and the crowd getting smaller as the day progressed.

This may be due to the voters’ apprehension that the weather will be too hot in the afternoon and rain may fall in the evening, as it did over the past three days.

Bernama also noticed, as of 3 pm, slight traffic congestion in Semenyih town.

The by-election is a four-cornered contest among Muhammad Aiman Zainali of Pakatan Harapan (PH); Zakaria Hanafi of Barisan Nasional (BN); independent Kuan Chee Heng and Nik Aziz Afiq Abdul of Parti  Sosialis Malaysia (PSM)

It has been necessitated by the death of the PH assemblyman, Bakhtiar Mohd Nor of Bersatu, on January 11. — Bernama