Rantau by-election to be held on April 13

The by-election for the Rantau state seat in Negeri Sembilan will be held on April 13, the Election Commission (EC) announced today.

EC chairperson Azhar Azizan Harun told a press conference that the commission had also scheduled the by-election nomination day to be held on March 30, with early voting on April 9.

The dates were decided in a meeting earlier today.

Azhar added that the commission will be utilising the multipurpose hall at SJK(C) Bandar Sri Sendayan as the nomination and official vote tallying centre for the by-election.

"The nomination forms can be purchased starting tomorrow at the returning officer's office at the Seremban Land and District Office, or at the Negeri Sembilan EC Office, or EC headquarters in Putrajaya.

"To ease the nomination process, I would like to urge those who wish to contest in the Rantau by-election to fill the forms and make early checks with the returning officer or the Negeri Sembilan EC office before the nomination day.

"This process can be done starting March 25. Besides that, the future candidates are also advised to make their deposit payments earlier. This is to ensure that all the nomination processes can be finished early and smoothly," he said. 

Seremban district officer Mohd Nizam Tajul Arus has been appointed as the by-election's returning officer.

Azhar said the EC would be using the 2018 electoral roll, which was last updated on Feb 25, for the by-election. It contains a total of 20,926 voters, including 118 who are eligible for early voting, and four overseas voters.

He said the commission aimed to have 70 percent of voters casting their votes on polling day.

The EC, Azhar added, had also decided to introduce several improvements, including providing two extra voting channels (saluran mengundi) for senior citizens aged 60 and above.

The voting period will also be extended by 30 minutes, from 8am to 5.30pm, compared to 8am to 5pm in the 14th general election.

"A total of 11 new channels have also been added to avoid congestion of voters at any single channel, from 44 during GE14 to 55," he said. 

Appeal dismissal

The announcement of the Rantau by-election comes after the Federal Court dismissed separate appeals filed by incumbent Mohamad Hasan and the EC on Feb 18.

The appeals had been filed against the earlier decision by the Seremban Election Court, which declared the state seat vacant and had ordered a by-election to be held.

Election Court judge, Justice Azimah Omar, made the judgment in November last year after the court found there was no requirement for a candidate to have a pass to enter the nomination centre.

This was in relation to a petition filed by Dr S Streram, PKR’s Rantau candidate for the 14th general election.

Streram had claimed that he had been denied entry into the nomination centre on April 28 last year on the grounds that he did not have an EC pass. - Mkini