As polls end, Azmin looks set to win but Rafizi still hopeful

PKR POLLS | As the final official day of voting ended today, Azmin Ali appeared set to win a third term as PKR deputy president against a strong challenge by Rafizi Ramli.

According to an unofficial tally by Malaysiakini, Azmin now has 67,449 votes against Rafizi's 62,716 votes, which marked a 4,733 majority.

Azmin scored a thumping victory in the second half of the election in Sarawak and re-elections for some divisions in Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Malacca.

However, there are still thousands of "undi ragu" which are yet to be added to the tally. This category of voters referred to those whose eligibility to vote could not be ascertained at the ballot booth, but were allowed to vote anyway.

PKR headquarters will have a tough task ahead to verify the "undiragu" before Friday - the start of the three-day PKR annual national delegates congress.

Azmin has claimed victory. In a statement signing off as deputy president for the 2018 to 2021 term, he thanked supporters for furthering the “true Reformasi agenda”.

What remains to be seen now was whether there will be re-elections for the Julau and Tawau PKR divisions.

The election for Julau yesterday was hampered by heavy rain, which limited the turnout, and allegations of a "malware" attack on the computers used for the e-voting system, causing the election there to be suspended by about 2pm.

Over at Tawau, there are allegations that a computer glitch allowed voters to vote multiple times (See video below). However, some party sources told Malaysiakini that the e-voting system will only accept the first instance, regardless of the number of times a person "votes".

Rafizi still hopeful

Rafizi managed to win by a landslide in the Pensiangan division, which was among several divisions to hold a re-election today.

According to the unofficial count, Rafizi scored 2,388 votes to Azmin's 262 votes.

Like the Julau division, Pensiangan was among the divisions which saw a massive increase in members just before the June 26 cutoff date. Members registered after that date are not allowed to vote. 

After polling closed, Rafizi told supporters in Pensiangan that once the results are fully tallied in a day or two, he will win "4,500 votes" [See video below]. 

The party's political bureau is expected to meet on Tuesday to decide on possible re-elections and the verification process for the "undi ragu".

Some party sources believed that a possible date for the Julau re-election would be Wednesday (Nov 14).

At the time of writing, Malaysiakini's tally has yet to include results for five divisions which has yet to be released - Masjid Tanah, Hang Tuah Jaya, Kota Melaka, Jasin and Labuan - and the Julau division which was suspended.

The PKR election began on Sept 22 and has taken place every weekend since.  - Mkini