SHAH ALAM, July 24: The Kuala Besut By-Elections today was carried out in peaceful and controlled conditions.
Up to 11am just now, a total of 7,365 people (44.49 percent) have already come out to vote.
After the 12 days of campaigning, today is the determination day whether the 16:16 seats can be realised by Pakatan Rakyat through the Kuala Besut by-Elections in Terengganu.
PKR witnesses a one on one clash between PAS candidate, Azlan Yusof and the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate, Tengku Zaihan Che Ku Abd Rahman.
As early as 8 in the morning, eight polling centres in Kuala Besut opened to allow 17,683 voters to register to cast their votes.
The polling centres which opened includes the Kuala Besut Secondary School (SMK), the Kuala Besut School (SK), SK Kampung Nangka, SK Pulau Perhentian, SK Kampung Nail, SK Kampung Baharu and SK Bukit Puteri.
All polling stations will be open till 5pm except for SK Pulau Perhentian which will close at 3pm today.
The early voting on July 20 was held at the Gong Kedak Royal Malaysian Air Force Multipurpose Hall.
According to Malaysiakini, PAS candidate, Azlan or better known as Che Long, went to cast his vote at SK Kampung Baharu as early as 8am, accompanied by his wife.
Meanwhile, his opponent from BN, Tengku Zaihan, voted at SMK Kuala Besut at 8.15am, also accompanied by his wife.
If PAS wins, then BN and PR will each have an equal number of seats in the constituency, but otherwise, the status quo will remain.
In the meantime, the Chairman of the Election Commission (EC), Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof reportedly said that the turnout as of 10am was high.
As of 11am, 7,356 people (44.9n percent) have come to vote, and if added to those who voted early, the total being 8,268 (46.76 percent).
On May 5, the percentage of people who voted in the Kuala Besut constituency was 86.7 percent.
The official results for the Kuala Besut by-elections will be announced at 10pm to allow for leaders and supporters of contesting parties to carry out their Tarawih prayers.
The by-elections this time was held following the death of the Kuala Besut Assemblyman, Dr A. Rahman Mokthar (BN) on 26 June due to lung cancer.
At the 13th General Election (GE-13) in May, BN lead with 17 seats while PR won 15 seats; PAS (14) and PKR (1).
