The EC is targeting a voter turnout of 80 per cent for the Sg Kandis by-election which is being held at a cost of RM1.4 million. — Picture by Miera Zulyana

SHAH ALAM, Aug 3 ― A total of 51,217 voters will cast their ballots in the Sungai Kandis state by-election tomorrow.

Altogether, 19 polling stations with 109 streams will be open from 8am to 5.30pm.

According to the Malaysian Meteorological Department, rain is expected in the morning with the temperature hovering between 26 and 29 degrees Celsius while, in the evening, fine weather is forecast with the temperature of between 30 and 32 degrees Celsius.

The Election Commission (EC) has made several improvements for the by-election, including setting up two polling streams for voters aged 60 and above and adding more polling streams at stations with a large number of voters.

A total of 21 new streams have been established to avoid too many voters at a stream at any one lane, making it a total of 109 streams compared to 88 during the 14th general election (GE14) on May 9.

The EC has also extended the polling hours by 30 minutes, from 8am to 5.30pm, instead of closing at 5pm as usual.

Pakatan Harapan candidate Mohd Zawawi Ahmad Mughni, 48, of PKR is scheduled to cast his vote at Sekolah Kebangsaan Jalan Kebun at 9 am while his contenders, namely Barisan Nasional's Datuk Lokman Noor Adam, 45, and Independent candidate K. Murthy, 60, are not registered as voters in the constituency.

All ballot boxes will be taken to the official tallying centre at Dewan Besar Tanjung of the Shah Alam City Council in Section 19 here and the result is expected to be announced at the latest by 10pm.

The EC is targeting a voter turnout of 80 per cent for the by-election which is being held at a cost of RM1.4 million.

The Sungai Kandis constituency has 51,230 registered voters comprising 51,217 ordinary voters and 13 absentee voters.

Of the 51,230 registered voters, 24,998 are male (48.8 per cent) and 26, 232 female (51.2 per cent).

In terms of racial composition, 71.34 per cent of the voters are Malays, 15.69 per cent Indians and 11.75 per cent Chinese.

The by-election is being held following the death of the assemblyman, Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei of PKR, due to lymphoma cancer on July 2.

In the GE14, Mat Shuhaimi retained the Sungai Kandis (formerly Sri Muda) state seat for the third consecutive term with a majority of 12,480 votes in a four-cornered fight against Barisan Nasional, PAS and Parti Rakyat Malaysia candidates. ― Bernama