More voters coming out to vote in Pengkalan Kubor

Over 27 per cent or 6,618 of the 23,929 registered normal voters in Pengkalan Kubor had cast their votes for the state seat by-election as at 10am today, according to a statement from the Election Commission (EC). The fine weather this morning enabled the people to come out as early as 8am to the 11 polling centres to vote. Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Mat Razi Mat Ail cast his ballot paper at Sekolah Kebangsaan Simpangan, here, at 9.15am. His challenger from PAS, Wan Rosdi Wan Ibrahim, did so earlier at 8.10am at Sekolah Kebangsaan Bendang Pak Yong. The other candidate, Independent candidate Izat Bukhary Ismail Bukhary, did not vote as he is not a registered voter in Pengkalan Kubor. It was observed that the elderly voters were being assisted with wheel chairs by EC workers to enter the polling centres. The vote canvassers for both the BN and PAS candidates were seen stationed 50 metres away from the polling centres. Kelantan police chief, Datuk Mazlan Lazim said voting at all the 11 polling centres went on smoothly. He advised the voters not to be worried about coming out to vote as the security situation in the area was under control. He said police had also increased personnel in several hot spots in the constituency to ensure a peaceful voting process. Mazlan also urged the public to obey the traffic rules to avoid congestion, especially around the polling centres. The by-election is held following the death of the area's incumbent assemblyman, Datuk Noor Zahidi Omar of BN, from liver cancer on Aug 20. In the 13th general election last year, Noor Zahidi defeated Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) candidate Saharun Ibrahim and Izat Bukhary, who also stood as an Independent, with a 1,736-vote majority.