Students who register as voters using the address of traditional Islamic schools in Sungai Limau constituency, but originate from elsewhere, have been blamed for BN's defeat in the by-election today.

NONEKedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir said this would explain why a rural area such as Bukit Besar would have a large amount of voters.

“We are aware that there are a lot of traditional schools in the area, but they shouldn't have hundreds of voters registered there,” he told reporters at the BN command centre at Sungai Kering.

Nevertheless, Mukhriz accepted the election results but questioned if this situation was democractic or fair to the bona fide locals.

“I don't want to question the results, but such questions have been raised,” he said.

PAS scored its biggest victory in the Bukit Besar voting district, bagging a 1,103 vote majority.

In all, PAS won only nine out of 19 voting districts, but it was enough for them to win the contest with a 1,084 majority.

EC: We had no choice

Despite the defeat, Mukhriz vowed that he will not ignore the Sungai Limau electorate and continue to fulfil BN's election pledges.

“We will continue with two projects. The first is the road from Guar Chempedak to Pulau Bunting. (Secondly,) the government is considering building a port in Pulau Bunting.

“Win or lose, we will do it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kedah PAS chief Mahfuz Omar had blamed the smaller majority achieved by his party on the fact that the Election Commission (EC) had chosen a working day for polling.

He said that a significant number of party supporters work in other states and were unable to make it for voting because it was difficult to obtain leave after the Aidilfitri break.

When ask about Mahfuz's complaints, EC chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said the commission had no choice but to hold the election today.

He explained that the by-election must be held before the commencement of the SPM examination, which begins tomorrow.

“They have a right (to blame me)... or else you tell me how (could we have chosen a better date?)” he told reporters at SMK Agama Yan, the officially tallying centre.

Additional reporting by Kow Kwan Yee.