BN chairman hopes strong early voter turnout exceeding 88% will continue on polling day in Negeri Sembilan.
SEREMBAN: Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi hopes the strong momentum in early voter turnout, which exceeded 88% today, will continue on polling day for the 16th Negeri Sembilan state election this Saturday.
He said the high turnout reflected healthy democratic participation and expressed hope that more voters would fulfil their responsibility on Saturday.
“I would like to congratulate the early voters because the Election Commission (EC) has informed us that voter turnout was very high, exceeding 88%.
“If this momentum continues on polling day this Saturday, it will be a very encouraging trend. Hopefully, democracy will be practised in the best possible way in Negeri Sembilan,” he told a press conference after officiating at the RISDA Central Zone Smallholders Convention here.
Meanwhile, describing BN as the underdog in the state election, Ahmad Zahid urged the coalition’s election machinery to continue reaching out to voters during the remaining three days of the campaign.
Earlier, the EC announced that early voter turnout had reached 88.97% as of 3 pm today.
Early voting for the Negeri Sembilan state election involved a total of 22,339 voters, comprising 16,467 who cast their ballots in person today, including 11,293 military personnel and their spouses, and 5,174 police personnel and their spouses. The remaining voters cast their ballots by post.
A total of 867,151 voters are eligible to cast their ballots on Saturday.
EC chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun said the commission was targeting an overall voter turnout of between 72% and 75% on polling day.
