Mah worried by Teluk Intan voter turnout, says ‘it’s going to be tough’

Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Mah Siew Keong casts his vote at SMK Sultan Abdul Aziz today. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, May 31, 2014.Barisan Nasional candidate for Teluk Intan Datuk Mah Siew Keong said he was worried about the voter turnout in the constituency so far, indicating that the by-election contest was going to be a tough fight.

He told a press conference at the media centre in Teluk Intan today that there was a large disparity in the turnout rate in the two state constituencies of the parliamentary seat: BN-leaning Changkat Jong and DAP fortress Pasir Bedamar.

“The voting disparity is quite high, and it (the turnout rate) is higher in Pasir Bedamar than Changkat Jong. Right now, the turnout rate in the Pasir Bedamar Barat polling station is at 50%," he said.

When asked if he was worried over the disparity, Mah said: “Yes, it’s going to be tough. We will just wait for the results.

“We will accept whatever results the voters decide."

But he suggested that the reason fewer people had turned out to vote in Changkat Jong this morning was because they mostly consisted of estate workers who had to work until noon today.

“The people there are working at the estates for half the day today. After 2pm, they will be voting. But I think overall, the turnout rate is low.”

Mah added he had seen many outstation voters return to vote, but noted they might not necessarily vote for DAP candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud.

“There are outstation voters who called me to say they will vote for BN,” said Mah.

The Election Commission today recorded a voter turnout of 46.65%  as of 1pm, with 27,955 of Teluk Intan’s 60,349 registered voters having already cast their ballots.

During the early voting on May 27, some 95.61% or 392 of the 410 voters cast their ballots.

Vote-counting will be carried out soon after the polling centres close at 5pm today, although one centre at Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan (T) Ladang Sungai will close an hour earlier due to the small number of voters, EC Perak director Ahmad Adli Abdullah said yesterday.

The first ballot box is expected to arrive at the tallying centre at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Abdul Rahman Talib at 6.30pm, while the results will be announced as early as 9pm tonight.