Early voting for 22,339 security personnel and spouses begins at 38 centres in Negeri Sembilan ahead of the state election.
SEREMBAN: A total of 38 early voting centres for the 16th Negeri Sembilan State Election opened at 8am today, allowing 22,339 security personnel and their spouses to cast their ballots ahead of polling day.
At the Negeri Sembilan Police Contingent Headquarters (IPK) in Seremban, early voting for the Temiang state constituency got off to a smooth start, with police personnel arriving early to fulfil their electoral responsibilities.
A check by theSun at the polling centre at about 8.30am found the voting process proceeding in an orderly manner, with voters moving through the two designated polling streams under the supervision of Election Commission (EC) officials.
Some police personnel arrived before the centre opened, with queues beginning to form as early as 7.30am, ahead of the official voting time.
The polling centre is one of 38 locations opened statewide for members of the security forces and their spouses, who are given the opportunity to vote early due to their operational commitments.
At the Temiang polling centre, a total of 979 police personnel and their spouses are eligible to cast their ballots.
The two polling streams will remain open until 5pm today, with election officials expecting most voters to complete the voting process earlier in the day due to work and deployment commitments.
The atmosphere at the centre remained calm throughout the morning, with no congestion reported as voters took turns casting their ballots.
Among those present at the polling centre were Negeri Sembilan Police Chief Datuk Arzaf Nizam Ahmad and Seremban Mayor Datuk Masri Razali.
Weather conditions in Seremban were favourable this morning, with clear skies and cool temperatures. However, the Malaysian Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rain and thunderstorms in parts of the state later this afternoon.
Temiang is among the closely watched constituencies in the Seremban parliamentary seat, with a three-cornered contest involving Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Ho Weng Wah, Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Leaw Kok Chan, and Bersatu candidate Fazly Hamid.
In the 2023 state election, PH retained the seat through Ng Chin Tsai, who won with a majority of 3,068 votes.
The Temiang constituency has 12,947 registered voters, comprising 6,797 men and 6,150 women.
The EC is expected to release the early voting turnout figures later today.
