A double by-election will be held on Jan 16 next year for the N66 Bugaya state seat in Sabah and the P54 Gerik parliamentary seat in Perak.
Nominations will be held on Jan 4, followed by 12 days of campaigning, according to Election Commission (EC) chairperson Abdul Ghani Salleh.
Early voting will take place on Jan 12.
Unlike the last Sabah state elections in September, Abdul Ghani said stricter standard operating procedures will be enforced to prevent the emergence of new Covid-19 clusters as a result of the by-elections.
"Campaign activities in the form of ceramah, house-to-house visits, walkabouts, or distribution of campaign pamphlets in person are not allowed.
"Candidates are encouraged to campaign on social media and party workers are allowed to put up banners and buntings in the by-election areas," Abdul Ghani said at a press conference in Putrajaya this morning.
He added that candidates are only permitted to open one central election command centre, instead of several smaller rooms or gathering sites.
In Gerik, the EC said 1,309 officers will be appointed, with 23 voting centres and 81 voting streams.
As of Nov 17, the electoral roll comprises 33,675 ordinary voters; 2,111 army personnel and their partners; 959 police or civil defence force personnel and their partners; as well as five absentee voters.
Meanwhile in Bugaya, 544 EC officers will be appointed, with nine voting centres and 46 voting streams.
As of Nov 22, there are 21,181 ordinary voters and 437 police personnel eligible to cast their votes.
The by-elections must be called to fill vacancies due to the recent passing of its incumbents, Umno's former Gerik MP Hasbullah Osman and Warisan's former Bugaya assemblyperson Manis Muka Mohd Darah.
On Nov 16, Hasbullah died of a heart attack in Raub, Pahang.
A day later, Manis Muka passed away at Gleneagles Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, where she had been admitted for kidney problems.
Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah had previously assented to declare a state of emergency in Batu Sapi, Sabah, in order to cancel the by-election initially scheduled to be held this month.
In announcing the matter, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said to proceed with the by-election would pose a health threat to the public, based on lessons from the Sabah state elections that sparked a third wave of Covid-19 outbreak. - Mkini
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