By Ling Hui and Karen Bong
KUCHING, Nov 24: The 12th Sarawak State Election will be held on Dec 18, Election Commission (EC) director Datuk Abdul Ghani Salleh announced today.
He said the EC held a special meeting today and decided the Sarawak State Election should be held to fill the vacancies of 82 State seats following the dissolution of the 11th Sarawak State Assembly (DUN) on Nov 3.
“The EC received an official notification from the Sarawak DUN Speaker on the dissolution of the 11th Sarawak DUN on Nov 3.
“As such, the EC has set Dec 18 for polling day; nomination day on Dec 6 and early voting on Dec 14,” he told a media conference at a hotel here today.
Abdul Ghani said that a 12-day campaign would start on Dec 6 after the nomination process till 11.59pm on Dec 17.
The EC had appointed 82 returning officers and 249 assistant returning officers for the State election.
“For the purpose of monitoring campaign activities throughout the election campaign period, the EC has set up 155 election task forces comprising representatives of the Royal Malaysia Police, local authorities and agents of candidates,” he added.
In addition, a total of 82 candidate nomination centres (PPC) and 82 official vote counting centres (PPRU) will be set up.
The electoral roll updated on Nov 2, he said, a total of 1,252,014 voters were registered in the State, consisting 1,228,858 normal voters, 12,585 soldiers and spouses, 10,458 policemen and spouses, and 113 individuals who were currently abroad.
Voters can check details such as voting centres and channels on the EC website at pengundi.spr.gov.my or call 03-88927018 or via the MySPR Semak application starting Dec 1.
The EC is expecting a 70 per cent voter turnout and it would conduct the “Jom Kita Undi” campaign through various social and electronic media channels as well as banners and broadcasts to encourage voters to exercise their responsibility.— DayakDaily
