PKR's election director Saifuddin Nasution has estimated the party's candidate Mansor Othman was on his way to achieve a bigger victory than what the party got during the 2008 general election.

selambau pkr pc 040409 saifuddin nasution He said that feedback received by party workers indicated that almost 75 percent of people who had voted until 2pm had marked against Mansor's name in the ballot paper.

That means almost 4,500 people had voted for the PKR man as at 2pm.

The Election Commission revealed that as at 2pm, the voter turnout stood at about 38.77 percent. This figure translated to 5,964 out of 15,384 voters.

An hour later, the turnout increased to 42.2 percent, where 6,492 out of 15,384 people had voted as at 3pm.

"Based on the feedback we got, most of the voters who had come out to vote as at 2pm were our strong supporters," he said.

The turnout for the by-election today has been very low, prompting fears that it could not achieve the 70 percent target set by the EC.

No threat for Mansor

mansor othman pkr penanti by election pc 290509 02 The by-election is a four-cornered fight among Mansor ( left ) and three independent candidates - former PKR leader Aminah Abdullah, former Gerakan youth leader Nai Khan Ari and motivational expert Kamarul Ramizu Idris.

The seat fell vacant after the incumbent Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin, resigned on April to further his studies, after having stepped down earlier as Penang deputy chief minister and state executive councillor.

In the 2008 general election, Fairus had defeated Umno's Abdul Jalil Abdul Majid by a 2,219-vote majority.

This time around Umno has decided to sit out of the by-election.

Among the independents, only Nai Khan is expected to gain some votes, but not enough to threaten Mansor's victory.

The constituency has 15,384 voters, of which 72.68 per cent are Malays, 24.22 per cent Chinese, 2.39 per Indians and 0.71 per cent other races.