SIBU: Not even heavy rain this morning could dampen the spirit of voters here, including Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) president Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh, from going out to cast their ballots for the 12th Sarawak state election.

Wong, who is also the PSB candidate for the Bawang Assan seat, arrived with his wife Datin Seri Pauline Leong at Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Chung Hua at 8.44 am and took just 15 minutes to complete the voting process.

Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) candidate for Bawang Assan, Senator Robert Lau Hui Yew also voted at the same centre after arriving at 9.55 am.

Earlier, at about 8 am, heavy rain and strong winds nearly damaged the health workers' canopy, forcing them to shift to a safer place.

Bawang Assan returning officer Suhaili Mohamed said Election Commission (EC) staff had also been tasked with helping voters who did not have umbrellas.

"We had expected it to rain this morning, that's why more than 10 canopies were arranged to provide 'shade' from the main gate entrance until the building," Suhaili told Bernama.

However, by 9.40 am, the weather condition improved and the voting process resumed smoothly, with more voters beginning to turn up at the polling centre, which has nine voting channels.

Apart from Wong and Robert, the contest for the Bawang Assan seat also involves Amy Lau Bik Yin of DAP, Michelle Ling Shyan Mih of Parti Bumi Kenyalang and independent candidate Ricky Enteri.

Wong, 79, has been the Bawang Assan assemblyman since 1981 and had previously contested on a Barisan Nasional (BN) ticket.

At the 11th state election in 2016, Wong won the seat as a BN candidate by defeating four others with a majority of 4,131 votes.

The Bawang Assan seat has 19,650 voters and the electorate is split evenly between Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera voters.

-- BERNAMA