.jpg "Election Commission officers make preparations ahead of the Tanjung Piai by-election at Dewan Jubli Intan, Pontian November 15, 2019. u00e2u20acu201d Shafwan Zaidon")
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 — The Tanjung Piai by-election today is the ninth by-election to take place since Pakatan Harapan took over the ruling administration after GE14.
Malay Mail looks back in numerical comparison of all the nine state and parliamentary by-elections held since GE14.
Of the nine by-elections held to date between August 2018 and May 11 this year, five were state assembly seats while the remaining four were federal seats with the participation of 31 candidates in total.
All but three by-elections were caused by the death of its elected representative, with two of the three due to an election petition.
The five state seats were — Sungai Kandis, Seri Setia, Balakong, Semenyih and Rantau; while the four federal seats were Port Dickson, Cameron Highlands, Sandakan and Tanjung Piai.
Compared to the previous term of 2013-2018, a total of 23 by-elections were held then — 15 state seats and eight federal seat.
Back to the present, Selangor tops the list as the state with the highest by-elections to date at four (Sungai Kandis, Seri Setia, Balakong and Semenyih) since May 2018.
As for the voter turnout, the highest turnout recorded was in Rantau at 79.31 per cent while the lowest was recorded in Balakong at 42.9 per cent, with turnout at all by-elections lower than GE14 figures.
At just 42.9 per cent turnout, this meant that almost 45 per cent of Balakong’s registered voters failed to cast their vote.
Having held nine by-elections, all but one seat was successfully defended by the incumbent party with Semenyih the only state seat switching from Pakatan Harapan to Barisan Nasional following a 1,914 majority result.
In comparison, Pakatan Harapan has lost three of the nine by-elections held in Cameron Highlands, Rantau and Semenyih.
