PONTIAN (Nov 16): Polling for the Tanjung Piai parliamentary by-election has been proceeding smoothly since the polling centres opened at 8am today.

Election Commission (EC) chairman Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun said there had been no reports of any serious incidents and the voting process was going on peacefully.

"The voter turnout was 13 percent as at 9am.

"I would like to urge voters to come out and vote early because the Malaysian Meteorological Department has forecast thunderstorms in the afternoon,” he told reporters while visiting the polling centre at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Dato' Mohd Yunos Sulaiman, Pekan Nanas, here today.

The centre has 2,247 voters in five streams.

Azhar said the EC is expecting 70 per cent of the 52,471 voters in the constituency to cast their ballots before the polling centres close at 5.30pm.

Analysts have also predicted a turnout of between 65 and 70 per cent, he said.

"Based on our observation at streams four and five (at SMK Dato' Mohd Yunos Sulaiman), there were many young voters so we cannot say that only the older folks have come out to vote.

“Many came carrying the voting card and EC has also provided various facilities for voters,” he said, adding that buggies were available to ferry voters to the polling centres.

Azhar reminded candidates and their supporters to cease any activity to canvass for votes in the vicinity of polling centres today.

"We will continue to monitor the situation and will take action against anyone found actively canvassing for votes,” he said.

The by-election is a six-cornered contest involving Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) Karmaine Sardini, Barisan Nasional’s Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng, Gerakan’s Wendy Subramaniam, Berjasa’s Datuk Dr Badhrulhisham Abdul Aziz and two independent candidates, Dr Ang Chuan Lock and Faridah Aryani Abd Ghaffar.

The Tanjung Piai seat fell vacant following the death of Datuk Dr Md Farid Md Rafik, 42, of PH on Sept 21 due to heart complications.