LIVE COVERAGE: It’s polling day for Penanti!
By SK English News
7.15pm Official Results PKR’s Mansor 6,052, Aminah Abdullah 392, Nai Khan 494, Kamarul 56. [Suara Keadilan closes its live coverage here. We will revert to normal format for further updates and thank all readers for their support.]
7.00pm Pakatan workers at the main counting centre are becoming excited at the prospect of a sweeping win. They have been working round-the-clock for days and were initially alarmed by the weak voter turnout, but it looks like all’s well ends well.
6.50pm PKR’s Mansor 4,289, Aminah Abdullah 258, Nai Khan 273, Kamarul 26. 6.35pm PKR’s Mansor 3,222, Aminah Abdullah 180, Nai Khan 235, Kamarul 24.
6.30pm Mansor Othman surging ahead with 2,964 votes, Aminah Abdullah 178, Nai Khan Ari 133, Kamarul Ramizu Idris 22.
6.25pm Unofficial count has PKR’s Mansor leaing with 2,517 votes, Aminah 153, Nai 71 and Kamarul 20.
6.00pm In an immediate response PKR’s Saifuddin expressed satisfaction, saying the turnout while lower than expected confirmed that the Pakatan’s core support was intact. In 2008, the coalition’s popular support in the seat was 47 percent versus the Umno’s 33 percent.
“So if you add today’s turnout of 46 percent to Umno’s 33 percent, you get about 80 percent which is not far from the 82 percent turnout of 2008.
“Take into account all the scare tactics by the Umno-BN even though they didn’t contest but you can see it is evident in the eleventh hour police questioning of our leaders like Kit Siang and Gobala.
“Of of course, not all the 46 percent turnout today belongs to the Pakatan, but as long as we have above 40 percent, we have managed to progressed despite all odds,” Saifuddin told Suara Keadilan.
5.30pm According to the EC, as at 5pm, the turnout was 46.15 percent, or 7,100 out of 15,384 voters had cast their votes at the nine polling stations spread across Penanti. Vote counting has begun and the results expected to be announced only after 8 pm.
5.00pm Polling closes. A quiet but busy day for main competitor, the Pakatan Rakyat. As expected, the low voter turnout feared by the coalition left its mark on the contest, but thanks to its hardcore supporters there, Pakatan leaders are confident of a thumping win.
4.30pm According to the EC, as at 4pm the turnout was 44.36 percent, or 6,824 out of 15,384 voters had cast their votes at the nine polling stations. 4.00pm PKR election director Saifuddin Nasution is confident of approaching the 7,000 target by5pm.
“If we obtain around that level, we are extremely happy. It would prove that despite all the efforts by the Umno-BN to dislodge us, we have not lost our core voter support. In fact, despite knowing we would win anyway, they still came to stand up for us. Now, that speaks volumes – not just how they feel about us but also very tellingly, how they feel about the Umno-BN.”
3.45pm According to the EC, as 3pm the turnout was 42.2 percent 6,492 out of 15,384 voters had cast their votes at the nine polling stations.
3.30pm PKR election director Saifuddin Nasution is confident that Pakatan candidate Mansor had bagged at least 75 percent of all votes cast so far.
Based on the 2pm turnout of 5,964, this roughly translates to 4,500 PKR votes, which means, it needs only another 2,500 votes until 5pm to hit its internal target of 7,000 votes.
The PKR had been assured of victory right from the start because Penanti is part of Anwar’s Permatang Pauh stronghold.
3.15pm Pantai Jerejak assemblyman Sim Tze Tzin, who like Mansor was a former political secretary to Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, is hopeful for another 20 to 25 percent in the next few hours to 5pm. However he cautioned this was provided it did not rain. The Pakatan had days ago announced it expected a weak turnout of 55 to 60 percent, lower than the 70 percent forecast by the EC.
“After going to the ground, we found that everyone was sure we would win. That’s why we factored complacency very heavily into our calculations and erred on the side of caution. So, provided the weather holds out, if in the next three hours till 5 pm, we get another 20 to 25 percent turnout, that would be great,” said Sim.
3.00pm The smiles are back in the Pakatan camp after an early scare. Thanks to efforts by party workers and their strategists, a lunch-time surge in turnout has put the their forecast for retaining the 7,000-odd votes it obtained in 2008 back on track.
“It’s better now and we continue to hope for the best,” PKR candidate Mansor Othman told Suara Keadilan.
2.45pm Pakatan leaders admit they wished turnout was higher but point out that – provided the latest EC numbers were reliable – then they are likely to meet expectations.
Given that Umno’s 5,000-odd supporters have been instructed to boycott the balloting, the numbers that were being hit were in line with Pakatan expectations of achieving 7,000 votes – the same number it had achieved in the 2008 general election. This was of course on the assumption that the majority of those who voted so far were Pakatan supporters.
2.30pm According to the EC, the voter turnout at 2pm was 38.8 percent, with 5,964 out of 15,384 having turned out to cast their votes
12.15pm According to the EC, the voter turnout at 12noon was 26 percent, with 4,000 out of 15,384 having turned out to cast their votes. [Suara Keadilan will take a break for lunch now. Be back soon!]
12.00pm Perhaps in line with lunchtime, more voters have continued to arrive at the polling centres. But the overall situation is still quiet.
11.45am The number of voters strolling into the polling centres has perked noticeably, but the overall number is still sluggish. Pakatan officials remain concerned especially as rain has been forecast in the afternoon by the Meteorological Department.
11.30am According to EC, voter turnout at 11am is 23.5 percent, or 3,590 out of 15,384 voters.
11.15am It has been easy for police to maintain order throughout the morning. In fact, with the police outnumbering voters, their presence has become intimidating. So far, there have been no untoward incidents worth mentioning. However, with the EC irregularities over missing voter names, PM Najib may not need to create any physical ruckus to keep Pakatan supporters away from the polling booths.
10.55am PKR candidate Mansor says he is surprised at the EC’s data, saying that on-the-ground reports showed the response was lesser than the EC’s 14.6 percent turnout by 10am. “I am concerned,” he told Suara Keadilan.
10.40am Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has arrived at the Berapit polling station. 10.37am Just released data from the EC shows that up to 10am, 2,252 voters have cast their ballots representing a 14.6 percent turnout.
10.30am Complaints to the EC chairman Abdul Aziz Yusof of missing names from the electoral roll appear to have fallen on deaf ears.
Visiting the Tanah Liat polling station, he said the voter response was encouraging and is sticking to his forecast for a 70 percent turnout.
10.00am As to be expected, the increasingly controversial Election Commission has done it again, by transferring out voters to another state seat at the last moment.
PKR’s Mansor says 8 voters have complained to him. Guan Eng, who was with Mansor, has chided the EC for its unprofessional conduct.
9.45am By avoiding Penanti, PM Najib had hoped to avoid the political consequences of yet another electoral loss after losing in four of the past five by-elections. However, it is doubtful he has succeeded given the keen interest shown by Penanti folk at the ceramahs held by the Pakatan. According to PKR officials, many clamored to hear about the Perak crisis and of course the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder-and-commission scandal, apart from the near term economic prospects for the country.
9.25am PKR candidate Mansor Othman visited Berapit polling station with Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang in tow.
9.20am The weather is still holding out but the Meteorological Department expects rain and thunder storms later in the morning and drizzles in the afternoon.
9.15am Nai Khan, who was denied permission to hold a press conference after casting his vote, has left the polling centre with his supporters.
9.00am Polling is taking place at 8 schools and 1 community hall. Voters are starting to file in steadily though with little fanfare. Which makes crowd control easier and the overall mood more pleasant for those who prefer a less noisy and quarrelsome environment.
8.50am Mansor, who revealed a 5-point plan to Penanti voters, will be appointed Deputy Chief Minister (I) of Penang, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim repeated in a message to Penanti folk.
8.45am PKR strategic affairs director Tian Chua expects Pakatan to garner 80 percent of votes from the town areas, but 50-50 in the interior areas, where the bulk of Umno supporters are based.
8.40am Police still outnumbering voters at the polling station. Though still thin, voters are filing in.
8.35am Despite eleventh hour scare tactics from the police, who hauled up Pakatan Rakyat leaders Lim Kit Siang and N Gobalakrishnan over speeches they made at Penanti ceramahs, PKR expects to retain the same level of voter support of 7,000 that it obtained in the 2008 general elction.
At that time, Umno had secured 5,000 votes but because of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s decision to skip this time, the party has instructed its supporters not to cast their ballots. Free trips to northern border towns have already been organised to ferry them out of town!
8.30am Voter turnout, the greatest concern for the PKR, is still thin. Nevertheless, party leaders expect the momentum to pick up a little later.
8.25am Apart from Nai Khan, none of the other candidates are entitled to vote today. He is already at the polling centre waiting to cast his vote. Nevertheless, they are expected to show up later although any last-minute campaigning is strictly prohibited.
8.20am There are some new ground rules set by the Election Commission for this by-election. For example, no ‘pondok panas’ or voter-service stops are allowed within 50m of the polling statiuon. Election watchdog, Mafrel, has been complaining they are allowed to station only 8 observers although there are 32 polling streams.
8.15am According the EC, there are 15,384 registered voters include 24 postal ones at Penanti. There are also nine polling station, with 32 polling streams.
8.10am Police presence is light and despite the reduced razzle-dazzle with Umno skipping the contest, there is still an an of expectancy. The weather is fine so far and the mood cheerful.
8.05am The town area is still quiet, with the bulk of voters expected to come out only a little later. Most are still enjoying their breakfast.
8.00am Voting has flagged off in Penanti, with PKR’s Mansor Othman facing three Independents – Aminah Abdullah, Nai Khan and Kamarul Ramizu.
