KINABATANGAN, Jan 24 — Two candidates contesting the Kinabatangan parliamentary by-election have cast their votes as of 9am today.

Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Mohd Kurniawan Naim Moktar arrived at the polling centre at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Bilit at 8.51am and cast his vote at 8.58am, while Independent candidate Goldam Hamid voted at SK Minusoh at 8.54am.

Polling centres for the Kinabatangan parliamentary and Lamag state by-elections opened simultaneously at 7.30am today and are scheduled to close at 5.30pm, with some centres closing in stages.

Favourable weather conditions were reported throughout this morning’s polling.

The tallying of votes will take place at Dewan Sri Lamag with official results expected at 10 pm.

Mohd Kurniawan Naim, Goldam and Datuk Saddi Abdul Rahman (Warisan) are vying for the Kinabatangan parliamentary seat, while Mohd Ismail Ayob (BN) is up against Mazliwati Abdul Malek (Warisan) for the Lamag state seat.

Both by-elections were called following the death of the incumbent, Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, 66, on December 5 last year. — Bernama