Sabah polls: Over half of candidates lose deposits

A total of 275 out of the 447 candidates who contested in the Sabah State Election yesterday lost their deposits after failing to garner one eighth or 12.5 per cent of the total votes counted.

The other 172 candidates lost but did not lose their deposits.

The most number of candidates to lose their deposits in a single constituency were eight in the 11-cornered fight for the Bengkoka seat.

Those who lost their deposits were Jose Modsinupu (PCS), Samuil Mopun (PBS), Sotijin Juhui (Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah), Rita Cham (Parti Perpaduan Rakyat Sabah), Omar Jalun (USNO) as well as three Independents Pransol Tiying, Mary E. Dumpangol@Aminah Ambros and Akian Ah Kiew.

Meanwhile, two key leaders of Parti Liberal Demokratik (LDP), namely honorary life president Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat and its president Datuk Chin Su Phin both lost their deposits for the Inanam and Api-Api seats.

Chong lost in a 10-cornered fight which saw six other candidates also losing their deposits. The six are Terence Tsen Kim Katt (Parti Kerjasama Anak Negeri), Mohd Hardy Abdullah @ Zoro Yukon (USNO), Regina Lim @ How (PCS), Goh Fah Shun (Gagasan) as well as two Independents Ngui Kuang Kee @George Ngui and Achmad Noorasyrull Noortaip.

For the nine-cornered fight for the Api-Api seat, six others apart from Chin also lost their deposits. They are Lo Yau Foh (PPRS), Chong Tze Kiun (Gagasan), Pang Yuk Ming (PCS) as well as Independent candidates Marcel Jude, Sim Sie Hong and Ng Chun Sua.

The Sabah election also saw Warisan’s Phoong Jin Zhe garnering the highest number of votes, 15,510, for the Luyang seat en route to defeating five challengers, who all lost their deposits.

Warisan’s Rina Jainal won with the smallest majority of just 10 votes against Chaya Sulaiman, who managed 2,824 votes in the seven-cornered fight, which saw the other five losing their deposits.

Meanwhile, 3,884 voting slips were not returned while 14,056 votes were rejected from the overall total of 749,083 or 66.61 per cent of registered voters who went out to cast their ballot papers.

-- BERNAMA