THE voting process for the 12th Sarawak state election began at 7.30am this morning, with the opening of 1,866 polling centres involving 3,555 channels for the people to elect the new state government.

The process involves 1,213,769 ordinary voters out of 1,252,014 registered voters for the polls which will be managed by 46,565 election officials in all 82 state assembly seats until voting ends at 5pm.

Depending on the number of voters in a constituency, some will be closed as early as 12 noon, such as the polling centre at Tadika Kemas Kampung Soh, which is under Muara Tuang as there are only 97 voters in the constituency.

On Dec 14, 18,141 out of 20,360 early voters had fulfilled their responsibilities while another 17,885 voted by post.

According to the Meteorological Department, the weather this morning is forecast to be good throughout the state, however, thunderstorms are expected in the afternoon in several parts including Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman, Serian, Betong, Sarikei, Sibu and Mukah.

Rain is also forecast in Kapit and Bintulu in the afternoon while the temperature throughout the day is expected to be between 24°C and 34°C.

SOPs in place

As the country still faces the threat of COVID-19, voters are required to adhere to standard operating procedures (SOPs) including practising physical distancing, wearing face masks, body temperature screening and recording attendance by scanning the MySejahtera app’s QR code before entering the polling station.

However, voters with symptoms and high body temperature are still allowed to vote in special tents under the supervision of a health officer while individuals under supervision (PUS) and individuals under investigation (PUI) need to obtain permission from the district health officer to go to the polling station.

To avoid congestion at the polling station, voters are also advised to check their voting information through the MySPR Semak app or the Election Commission portal before going out to vote.

Multi-cornered fights

This state election will see 13 three-cornered matches, 33 four-way fights, 24 five-cornered battles, seven six-way matches, one eight-cornered competition and four one-on-one contests.

The ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) is fielding 82 candidates followed by Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) with 73, Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) with 70, PKR has 28, DAP 26, Parti Aspirasi Rakyat Sarawak (Aspirasi) 15, Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDSB) 11, Amanah eight, Parti Sedar Rakyat Sarawak (Sedar) five and PAS (1).

Thirty independent candidates are also contesting in the polls.

Of the total number of candidates contesting, 87.1% or 304 are men and the rest are women while 47 candidates ranged in age from 18 to 40, 56 candidates (41-50), 119 candidates (51-60), 117 candidates (61-70) and 10 candidates (71 and above).

The election campaign took place under the new norms which saw the prohibition of public talks, lectures, face-to-face campaigns, house-to-house visits, friendly surveys and in-person distribution of pamphlets, among others.

However, during the 12-day campaign period, face-to-face campaigns with strict SOPs were allowed in 64 constituencies identified as having poor Internet coverage. – Dec 18, 2021

Sarawak polls: Voting begins, multi-cornered fights in many parts