EC: 50 pct voter turnout in Johor polls as at 4pm

JOHOR BAHRU: Around 50 per cent of the 2,539,606 ordinary voters eligible to vote in the Johor state election today went out to exercise their voting rights as of 4 pm today, according to the Election Commission (EC).

The voting process is expected to conclude at 6 pm.

Johor Menteri Besar, Datuk Hasni Mohammad, was among those who voted in the afternoon at the Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Pengkalan Raja in the Pekan Nanas state constituency, at about 4.15 pm.

Hasni, who is the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate to defend the Benut state seat, has contested the seat since 2008. In the 14th General Election (GE14), he defended the seat with a 4,447-vote majority.

Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, was in Johor today, and viewed the voting process from outside the polling centres at the SK Perumahan Tampoi 2 in the Kempas state constituency, and SK Taman Mutiara Rini in the Kota Iskandar state constituency.

Ismail Sabri also met BN candidate for the Kempas state seat, Datuk Ramlee Bohani.

Meanwhile, an election worker at SK Sungai Melayu polling centre in Iskandar Puteri, Nur Syafiqa Azmi, 19, said that she was very excited to be part of the Johor state election, because for her it was a great honour to be able to serve the country.

Nur Syafiqa, who is also a first-time voter, said that she took the opportunity to be an election worker at the school, after being offered the position by her former teachers who are also staff there.

"I can see for myself how our country's democratic system works, as thus far, I have only heard and could not imagine it," the aircraft engineering student told Bernama about her experience today.

In the Johor state election today, a total of 239 candidates from 15 political parties are contesting 56 state seats.

In MERSING, the presence of newlywed couple, Ummi Zulaikha Husri, 25, and her husband, Nik Ahmad Faris Mohd Fauzi, 26, attired in red songket, to vote for the Endau seat, at the SK Tenglu polling centre at about 4.40 pm, caught everyone's attention.

Ummi Zulaikha, a mechanical engineer at a private company in Shah Alam, expressed her excitement as today marked her first time voting, on top of her wedding reception.

"However, I chose to vote in the afternoon, once the wedding reception concluded, because I did not want to spoil my henna," joked the woman who tied the knot in Kampung Tenglu yesterday.

Meanwhile, Nik Ahmad Faris, from Besut, Terengganu, when met by reporters, said that he only came to accompany his wife to vote today as he was not a voter in the state.

-- BERNAMA