ROMPIN: The doors at 17 polling centres in the Tioman state seat election opened at 8am today to allow 28,108 individuals to cast their ballots.
An Election Commision spokesman said 506 election workers will be deployed to assist at polling stations throughout the Tioman constituency.
"The 17 polling stations including five on the island will involve 52 channels. The polling centres opened at 8am today while some will close a little earlier depending on the number of registered voters at the respective polling stations and the last polling centre will close at 6pm," he said.
He said the ballot papers from the early voting which were kept in a lock-up at the Rompin police headquarters will be sent to the Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Silver Jubilee hall tallying centre and counted with the other normal votes starting 4pm today.
Yesterday, Rompin parliament returning officer Datuk Ahmad Nasim Mohd Sidek said ballot boxes from Pulau Tioman will be taken to the tallying centre using a helicopter, and preparations were also being made to use the sea route in case the weather does not allow flights.
Meanwhile, Pahang police chief Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said 400 policemen have been stationed in the constituncy today to ensure polling day progresses smoothly and no untoward incidents were reported.
The Tioman state seat polls will see a five-cornered fight between Barisan Nasional's incumbent Datuk Seri Johari Hussain, Idayu Hashim from Perikatan Nasional, Pejuang's Osman A. Bakar, Mohd Fadzli Mohd Ramly from Pakatan Harapan, and independent candidate Sulaiman Bakar.
The 15th General Election for the Tioman state seat was postponed due to the death of PN candidate Md Yunus Ramli, 61, on polling day on Nov 19.