PONTIAN, Nov 16 — Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the Election Commission (EC) will investigate allegations by Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders that three Tanjung Piai voters were unable to cast their votes as their identity card details had been used by others.

“I was not informed about the matter as I am not an EC officer.

“Whatever it is, we will leave it to the EC to confirm the incident,” said Muhyiddin during a press conference at the Pontian district police headquarters here today.

Earlier, voters from the Sungai Boh district polling centre in Kukup were shocked when they were reportedly told that their identities had been used by others to cast their ballots.

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There was no trace of indelible ink on their fingers to indicate that they had voted and a police report was lodged at the Permas police station this afternoon.

Muhyiddin also urged supporters of political parties in the Tanjung Piai parliamentary by-election to avoid provocation throughout the day.

On a separate matter, Muhyiddin, who is also the Pagoh MP, said the turnout rate at noon stood at 51 per cent, which he described as satisfactory.

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“We hope that the voters will continue to show up before polls close at 5.30pm.

“So far the police have received several reports on provocation, but there was nothing out of the ordinary throughout polling day today,” said Muhyiddin.

The Tanjung Piai by-election sees a six-way contest between PH’s Karmaine Sardini, BN’s Datuk Seri Wee Jeck Seng, Gerakan’s Wendy Subramaniam, Berjasa’s Datuk Badhrulhisham Abdul Aziz, and two independent candidates Ang Chuan Lock and Faridah Aryani Abdul Ghaffar.

The Tanjung Piai seat fell vacant after Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s Datuk Dr Md Farid Md Rafik, 42, who was also a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, died on September 21 due to heart complications.

In 2018, Dr Md Farid won the seat by a 524-vote majority in a three-cornered contest against Jeck Seng, and Nordin Othman of PAS.

Tanjung Piai has a total of 52,471 registered voters in the parliamentary constituency.

There will be a total of 27 polling centres through 125 lanes. After voting between 8am and 5.30pm, the ballots will be counted at Dewan Jubli Intan Sultan Ibrahim here.