KAJANG: Polling is underway in the Kajang state by-election. Polling started at 8am, and will end at 5pm.
Fifteen polling centres have been set up in the constituency to enable 38,055 voters to cast their ballots.
These centres are at the Sekolah Rendah Agama Batu 10 Cheras; Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Seri Sekamat; SK Saujana Impian; Sekolah Menengah Agama Persekutuan Kajang; SK Sungai Kantan; Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Tinggi Kajang; SMK Convent Kajang; Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan (C) Sungai Chua.
Kg Baru Sungai Chua Village Development and Security Committee Community Hall; Rukun Tetangga Centre and Sungai Chua Unity Nursery; Sungai Chua Community Hall; SAR (KAFA Integrasi) Taman Delima; SK Kantan Permai, SK Kajang and Cheras Mukim Penghulu Complex.
The counting of votes is expected to begin at 6 pm at the vote-tallying centre at the Bandar Baru Bangi Sports Complex hall.
The by-election is a straight fight between the Barisan Nasional (BN) and PKR. The BN is represented by MCA vice-president Chew Mei Fun and PKR, by its president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
The by-election has been necessitated by the sudden resignation of the assemblyman, Lee Chin Cheh of PKR, apparently to pave the way for PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim to contest and reportedly become the next menteri besar of Selangor, replacing Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.
However, the conviction and sentencing of Anwar to five years jail by the Court of Appeals, which overturned a High Court decision acquitting him of sodomy, had made the Opposition Leader ineligible to be a candidate.
In the 13th General Election, held in May last year, Lee won the seat with a majority of 6,824 votes in a six-cornered contest that also involved the BN, Berjasa and three independent candidates.
Election Commission (EC) secretary Abdul Ghani Salleh had said he expected more than 80 per cent of the voters to go to the polls today.
The EC expects the result of the by-election to be announced by 9pm.
The Meteorological Department has forecast fine weather in the morning and a thunderstorm in the late afternoon in Kajang.
Bernama
