KEMAMAN: The official result for the Kemaman parliamentary seat by-election will be known around 9pm tomorrow.
Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh said if everything goes as planned then the results could be announced as early as after the Isyak prayer.
"As usual, we have to wait for the ballot boxes from the polling centers to arrive at Dewan Berlian Utama, which will serve as the vote tallying center. The result should be after Isyak, around 9pm," he told reporters after visiting and inspecting the ballot boxes at the tallying center here today.
Abdul Ghani said Kemaman is expected to see a 70 per cent voter turnout tomorrow and hopes promising weather conditions will allow voters to come out in numbers to cast their ballots.
"The (Malaysian) Meteorological Department has forecast rain tomorrow, but I hope Kemaman will not be affected. Hopefully, there will be no rain or flash floods in the constituency tomorrow," he said.
He said in the event of flash flood incidents at the polling centers, Kemaman by-election returning officer (Ahmad Farhan Abdul Wahab) will take the necessary action.
"The returning officer is also the district disaster management committee chairman, so he will decide on the required action in case of floods or other emergencies. It will be decided on a case-by-case basis (when required).
"About 2,000 EC staff, including those from other agencies, will be on duty tomorrow, and we have prepared for any eventualities, including if there is a recounting of votes and power outage (blackout)... but let's all pray for a smooth process tomorrow," he said.
Abdul Ghani advised all voters, election workers, and political party members to dress decently when at the centres tomorrow and ensure they do not wear shirts, caps, and bring umbrellas with political party logos.
He said voters will cast their ballots at 49 polling centres through 244 polling streams across the parliamentary constituency. Kemaman, which is one of the eight parliamentary constituencies in Terengganu, has a total of 141,790 eligible voters.
The Kemaman parliamentary seat by-election will see a straight fight between Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar of Pas and Barisan Nasional's direct candidate general (R) Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor.
The by-election was called following the decision of the Terengganu Election Court on Sept 26 to annul the victory of Pas candidate Che Alias in the GE15.