SEMENYIH, March 2 ― Three candidates for the Semenyih by-election were among the early birds to vote today.

Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Muhammad Aiman Zainali voted at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Engku Husain, Kampung Baru Semenyih, while Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Zakaria Hanafi exercised his right as a voter at the Kampung Sesapan Kelubi Development and Security Committee (JKKK) Hall and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) candidate Nik Aziz Afiq Abdul at the Semenyih Community Hall.

A total of 24 polling centres, involving 116 streams, are opened from 8am to 5.30pm today to enable constituents in the Semenyih state constituency to choose their new elected representative or assemblyman..

A total of 53,411 people are eligible to vote in the by-election, being called following the death of incumbent Pakatan Harapan (PH) assemblyman,  Bakhtiar Mohd Nor, from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), last January 11.

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The Semenyih by-election involved a four-cornered contest among  Muhammad Aiman, Zakaria, Nik Aziz Afiq and an independent candidate, Kuan Chee Heng.

The Semenyih state constituency has 53,520 ordinary voters, with 109 of them having voted through post, leaving 53,411 people eligible to vote today. Early voting was held last Tuesday (Feb 26).

Muhammad Aiman, who was accompanied by his wife, Nurul Filzah Bakhtiar,  when met by reporters after casting his vote, said he hoped the voting process today would be smooth.

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"Alhamdulilah, everything is fine this morning. It is hoped voters will make a wise decision as they are the ones who will determine Semenyih’s fate,” he added.

As for Zakaria, he praised voters, especially those who went early to exercise their right.

“The response from voters at the Kampung Sesapan Kelubi JKKK Hall is very good. They were here very early,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nik Aziz expressed concern with the few number of voters at the  Semenyih Community Hall. ― Bernama