58pct voters by 3pm, DAP fears low turnout

In the most fiercely contested by-election since the 13th general elections, DAP's Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud faces off with BN's Mah Siew Keong.

Malaysiakini brings you the live reports of the polling and counting as it unfolds.

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LIVE REPORTS

3.45pm: Sek Keb Kg Bahagia - With a little over one hour before the end of voting, BN supporters are still shouting at DAP supporters who are not more than five metres away.

They are chanting ‘DAP communist’ and ‘Lim Kit Siang stupid’, among other slogans.

3.40pm: By 3pm, 58.36 percent or 34,974 voters have cast their votes, according to EC.

3.30pm: DAP's Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari confirms that the MPV party candidate Dyana was on was hit by a bamboo flagpole as the car was making its way past the group of BN supporters, but suffered no damage.

 

"Apart from that, there was just a lot of heckling and jeers," he says.

2.45pm: SK Sultan Abdul Aziz - Malaysiakini journalist Kow Kwan Yee, after spending her morning covering the by-election process, exercises her duty as a voter.

 

She voted at SK Sultan Abdul Aziz before resuming duty. She said that there were very little crowd in the school lining up for vote while traffic was smooth.

2.57pm: Kg Bahagia - DAP's Batu Kawan MP Kashturi Patto claims that Dyana's car was hit by BN supporters using a BN flag as it was leaving area.

"(The) candidate's car was hit with a BN flag at Kg Bahagia. Shouts of 'barua DAP' (DAP lackey) & 'pengkhianat' (traitor) were heard...," she tweets.

DAP official Twitter account also reports the same with a picture of BN supporters trying to reach out to a vehicle using BN flags on long bamboo poles.

2.30pm: According to the EC, the turnout at 2pm is 52.21 percent or 31,286 voters.

2pm: Kg Bahagia - Dyana has visited the polling centre here without any incident.

However, BN youths are still chanting and heckling the DAP camp despite the afternoon heat.

Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman is earlier spotted among the crowd of BN youths, being lifted by some while waving the BN flag, pointing it at the DAP camp.

Pictures of Tajuddin apparently at polling centre, wearing a shirt with the coalition's logo, has also been circulating online. Tajuddin does not appear to be wearing an EC tag which allows him access to the restricted zone.

DAP's Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming tweets that his checks show that Tajuddin is not a Teluk Intan voter but votes in Pasir Salak. [Full report here]

1.30pm: Teluk Intan - EC chief Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof says streams with young voters are seeing a low turnout.

He figures more may turn up later in the afternoon.

"The youths are arriving rather late. Perhaps they slept late last night," he says on TV3's afternoon bulletin.

1.30pm: According to the EC, at 1pm the turnout rate is 46.65 percent or 27,955 voters.

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang tweets that the final turnout may be around 70 percent, which will not be good news for DAP's chances.

"This is dangerous for DAP and Pakatan as our candidate can only be safe if voter turnout is over 80 percent," says the Gelang Patah MP.

1.10pm: The EC says 40.13 percent or 24,050 voters have cast their votes as at noon today, reports Bernama.