BINTULU: The results for the Jepak by-election is expected to be announced at about 9pm tonight, the Election Commission (EC) said.
Its chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh said the early results was because the furthest area in the constituency was only about an hour away.
"Hopefully the weather continues to be good and that there will be no disruptions in terms of vote counting and others," he said when met at the Sekolah Kebangsaan Bintulu polling centre here today.
He said there were a total of 14 voting centres and 45 polling streams open for 22,731 registered voters. The announcement of the results would be made at Dewan Suarah Bintulu.
Commenting on the voter turnout, Abdul Ghani said only 33 per cent of voters had cast their ballots as of 12pm today.
He urged all voters to exercise their rights and hoped that the turnout would reach at least 65 per cent.
"The weather is great, but the low number of voters is quite discouraging. I urge all Jepak voters to cone out, we still have time until 5.30pm, and fulfill their responsibility to vote."
Meanwhile, Abdul Ghani said three of the 14 voting centres would close at 4pm, while the remaining would close at 5.30pm.
The Jepak state seat by-election is a three-cornered fight between Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) candidate Iskandar Turkee, Parti Bumi Kenyalang's (PBK) Stevenson Joseph Sumbang and Parti Aspirasi Rakyat Sarawak's (Aspirasi) Chieng Lea Phing.
The Jepak by-election was called following the death of its six-term assemblyman Datuk Talib Zulpilip of GPS on Sept 15.