Crowds trickling in to vote in PD's Linggi on wet morning

PORT DICKSON: It's a wet morning here, and the crowds are slowly trickling in to vote at Sekolah Kebangsaan Linggi polling station on Saturday.

A small crowd was seen gathering in front of the school as early as 7.40am.

First to vote was T. Balasubramaniam, 60, who works in private education sector.

He said that he wanted to vote early to avoid the bad weather.

"I turned up early because of the unpredictable weather.

"I stay in Klang, but I have to go back to Klang today itself. I am happy that I managed to carry out my responsibility," he said when met at the polling centre.

He said his wife was supposed to be voting in Lukut, but she could not make it due to health reasons.

"So I came here with my sister," he said.

Polling for the by-election began at 8am with a total of 68,317 registered voters who are eligible to vote today.

According to the Election Commission, there are 32 polling centres with 154 streams.

The Port Dickson by-election was called after PKR incumbent Datuk Danyal Balagopal Abdullah vacated the seat to make way for Pakatan Harapan's candidate Datuk Seri Anwar’s return to Parliament.

Anwar is currently locked in a seven-cornered battle with Tan Sri Isa Samad and the incoming PKR president’s former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, who are among the five independents vying for the seat.

Another voter, Abdul Aziz bin Mohammad, 80, a former teacher, said he was happy to be able to vote early with his wife.

"I came with my wife early to avoid the queue. My heart became light after casting my vote.

"I hope the person who gets voted in the Parliament will bring change in this area," said the pensioner.

Fatimah binti ahmad, 80, said that she followed his husband to vote early.

"The earlier the better," she added.- Star