RANTAU FOLK TO VOTE ON APRIL 13
Nomination of candidates to be held on March 30
VOTERS in the Rantau constituency will go to the polls on April 13 to choose their representative in the Negri Sembilan state assembly.
Election Commission (EC) chairman Azhar Azizan Harun said the nomination date would be held on March 30.
Candidates would have 14 days to campaign, he said, adding that the commission would form four enforcement teams, comprising the police, local council, and candidates’ representatives and EC officers.
Early voters, he said, would cast their votes on April 9.
Azhar said there were 20,926 registered voters comprising 20,804 ordinary voters, 118 early voters and four absent voters.
There were 541 disabled voters, he added.
“The EC estimates the cost to run the Rantau by-election to be RM1.8 million,” he said.
Azhar said this after chairing a special meeting with the newlyappointed EC members to decide on the key dates for the Rantau by-election.
Rantau would be the seventh by-election after the 14th General Election (GE14) in May last year.
The previous by-elections were for the Semenyih state seat on March 2; Sungai Kandis state seat (on Aug 4 last year); Balakong and Seri Setia state seats (Sept 8 last year); Port Dickson parliamentary seat (Oct 13 last year) and Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat (Jan 26).
Azhar said the commission had spent RM15.3 million for the byelections, including the Rantau by-election.
The Rantau by-election was triggered by the Federal Court’s dismissal of an appeal filed by incumbent Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan to set aside the Nov 16 Seremban Election Court decision declaring his unopposed victory in the GE14 as null and void.
Mohamad was declared the winner of the seat after his potential Pakatan Harapan opponent, Dr S. Streram of PKR, was prevented from entering the nomination centre because he did not have a pass issued by the EC. The EC chairman also said 515 people had been appointed to manage the Rantau by-election.
“There will be 55 voting streams at 16 polling centres, an increase of 11 new streams compared with 44 channels in GE14.”
The EC, he said, would use the multipurpose hall at SJKC Bandar Sri Sendayan as the Rantau by-election nomination and official tally centre. Azhar estimated a 70 per cent turnout for the Rantau by-election.