Balakong by-election on Sept 8
PUTRAJAYA: The Election Commission (EC) yesterday has set polling day for the Balakong byelection on Sept 8, with nomination day on Aug 18.
Its deputy chairman, Tan Sri Othman Mahmood, in announcing the key dates, said the campaign period would last for 21 days from the date of nomination until 11.59pm on Sept 7.
Early voting is set for Sept 4. Othman said the EC agreed to appoint Hulu Langat district officer Datuk Rosli Othman as the returning officer for the by-election.
“For the Balakong by-election, the EC will use the Demesne Main Hall at the Hulu Langat district office for the nomination and official tally centre.
“A total of 998 people have been appointed to conduct the by-election, with 17 premises to be used as polling centres comprising 129 voting channels,” he said after chairing a special meeting on the by-election.
Othman said the allocation needed to run the by-election was estimated at RM1.5 million.
He said 29 new voting channels would be created to prevent congestion as seen from the 100 channels in the 14th General Election (GE14).
He said the number of voting booths would be raised from two to three at each voting channel.
“This can speed up the polling process at the voting channels,” he said, adding that the by-election would involve 62,219 registered voters.
Out of this, Othman said 62,160 were normal voters, while 31 were early voters and 28 absent voters.
He said the EC would invite non-governmental organisations and a group for the disabled, known as OKU Sentral, as local observers.
The Balakong seat fell vacant following the death of assemblyman Eddie Ng Tien Chee in an accident at Km11.7 of the Grand Saga Highway on July 20.
In GE14, Ng retained his seat for the second term after defeating Lim Chin Wah from Barisan Nasional and Mohamad Ibrahim Ghazali with a 35,538-vote majority. Othman conveyed the commission’s condolences to Ng’s family.