EC has set Nov 4 as Sungai Limau by-election date

he Election Commission (EC) Thursday announced Oct 23 and Nov 4 as the nomination and polling days, respectively, for the Sungai Limau state by-election in Kedah.

EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Yusof said the constituency had 27,222 voters and two absentee voters who are abroad.

There would be no advance voters in the by-election as no police or military personnel had registered to do so, he told a news conference at the EC headquarters after chairing a meeting to determine the dates.

The by-election has been necessitated by the death on Sept 26 of the state assemblyman, Tan Sri Azizan Abdul Razak, who was the former menteri besar of Kedah.

In the last general election, held in May, Azizan retained the seat with a 2,774-vote majority by beating his cousin, Mohd Fazillah Mohd Ali of the Barisan Nasional (BN). He had held the seat since 1995.

The Sungai Limau by-election is the second after the last general election.

The first was the Kuala Besut state by-election in Terengganu, held on July 24 following the death of the assemblyman Dr A. Rahman Mokhtar of the BN. The seat was retained by the BN.

Abdul Aziz said the electoral roll to be used for the Sungai Limau by-election is the 2012 Electoral Rolls combined with the supplementary rolls for the first and second quarters of 2013 updated as of Sept 26.

He said 17 polling centres would be set up for the by-election, and they would have 58 polling streams.

He also said that 492 election workers would be appointed to handle the election process.

"It is estimated that the cost of holding the by-election will be RM1,336,987," he said.

Abdul Aziz said the EC meeting on Thursday also agreed to appoint the Yan district officer as the returning officer and also to appoint three assistant returning officers.

The EC also agreed to set up three election enforcement teams to monitor the election campaign activities, he added.

Abdul Aziz said copies of the electoral rolls for the by-election would be sold from Oct 10.

Voters in the constituency could check the rolls to verify information on the polling centres and streams on the EC website, www.spr.gov.my, or via SMS by typing SPR SEMAK Identity Card Number and sending to 15888 from Oct 10, he said.

"Voters can also telephone the EC headquarters in Putrajaya at 03- 88856565 and the Kedah EC office at 04-700 1313," he said.

Abdul Aziz said Malaysian citizens abroad, election officers and workers and journalists could apply for postal voting from Thursday by downloading the form from the EC website.

"The closing date for application for Malaysian citizens abroad is on nomination day (Oct 23) and for the election workers and journalists, two days after nomination day," he said.

He said that the type of indelible ink used and the method of application adopted in the Kuala Besut by-election would be emulated to mark voters in this by-election.