Early voters from among the policemen at the Sabah Police Contingent headquarters (IPK) have been asked to follow the voting time allotted for them to cast their votes tomorrow to ensure full compliance of the standard operating procedures (SOP) to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Sabah IPK Postal Voters and Early Voting Coordinating Officer ACP Abdul Ghani Ahmad said the directive to follow the voting time had been issued to the 1,444 early voters involved.

“We have issued the directive to have each of our officers and personnel to go to the early voting centre in batches according to their departments. For policemen in other areas, no schedule was set for them as their numbers are relatively smaller than us here.”

He said this to Bernama after checking the preparation at the early voting centre at the Sabah IPK Senior Officers’ Housing Complex here today.

Meanwhile, Kepayan Returning Officer Robert Stidi said the preparation for early voting at the centre was running smoothly.

He said they had also done all the necessary preparation to curb the spread of COVID-19.

“We have also set up a COVID-19 screening area and those who are symptomatic will be referred to the Ministry of Health personnel who will also be here tomorrow,” he said.

He said once the early voting process was completed, the ballot boxes will be sent to the Penampang Police Headquarters where they will be kept until the vote-tallying process is held after the polling on Saturday.

The early voting for the 16th Sabah state election tomorrow involves 16,877 police and military personnel and their spouses who will cast their votes at 55 polling centres.

-- BERNAMA