An Election Commission officer has cautioned rival supporters outside the Permatang Tengah polling station in SRJK Lay Keow to stop all forms of campaignng during polling day.

The officer-in-charge of the polling station, Abdul Rahim Md Salleh told both sets of supporters from Umno and PAS, numbering some 100 on each side, not to display banners, give out leaflets, wave flags or paper fans or woo voters coming to cast their ballots at the station.

NONE They were seen to be committing the breach prior to Abdul Rahim's warning, who is also the Kelantan EC director.

"The campaign ended at midnight. Please allow the people to vote to in a peaceful and calm atmosphere," he told both sides.

The supporters accepted his reprimand and refrained from further campaigning.

He later told newsmen that so far an average of 200 voters had cast their ballots at the polling station which has a list of 2,492 registered voters.

"The EC does not want anything which would instil fear among voters.The voters should be allowed to exercise their electoral rights in a relaxed atmosphere," said Abdul Rahim, who once served as Penang EC chief.

DAP state chairperson Chow Kon Yeow however, did not concur with Abdul Rahim.

Chow said that cheers and applause by rival supporters did not creat an intimidating situation.

"It's part of the electoral show. This happens during voting day.Without it, the process would not be lively," said Chow while visiting the Permatang Tengah polling station.

The Permatang Pasir state constituency has 20,290 registered voters.

Voting began at 8 AM to decide the by-election, which is being held following the death of incumbent PAS representative Mohd Hamdan Abdul Rahman on May 31.

Barisan Nasional's Rohaizat Othman, 38, from Umno is taking on Pakatan Rakyat's Mohd Salleh Man, 55, from PAS.

Both candidates however, will not vote today since they are not registered voters in Permatang Pasir.

Rival supporters in ‘close proximity'

Chow said both sets of rival supporters were in close proximity in certain polling areas, which could possibly create a tense atmosphere when shouting matches between them starts.

"However, the police have managed to keep the situation calm so far.The supporters' cheers and applause showed that the by-election was hotly contested," he said.

NONE When contacted, PAS vice president Mahfuz Omar said he was expecting less than 80 per cent turnout for the by-election as only 30 per cent had turned up so far in many areas.

He rubbished BN claim that there would be 87 per cent turnout, alleging that "perhaps the remaining of them would be phantom voters."

So far, he said the voting process had been slow in certain stations.

"I have instructed party workers to woo the Muslim women to come out to vote early because they would be busy in the evening preparing meals for the breaking of fast," he said.

Mahfuz also said the party workers were going all out to get their supporters to come out and vote now.

"We aim for more than 50 per cent voters to have cast their votes by 2pm," he said.

He said he had issued a directive to all Pakatan election workers to be wary of phantom voters who may arrive later in the day.

Mahfuz said he had not received any reports yet on phantom voters or any legitimate voters having had their name missing from the electoral list.

"No complaints yet on any voters being denied from exercising their rights," he said.

Banner ignites scuffle

Meanwhile, in another development, a minor scuffle and shouting match erupted between Umno and PAS supporters outside the SMK Sama Gagah polling station over a banner.

The banner allegedly portrayed PAS as insulting Islam.

It is learnt that the temperature rose when PAS supporters attempted to seize the banner from their rivals.

Calm was restored when Election Commission officers and police personnel intervened. The police then seized the banner.

Seberang Perai Tengah police chief Mohd Shah Hussin Shah said apart from this minor incident, the election process has been smooth.

DAP's Lim Kit Siang, who was present at the Permatang Tengah polling station in SRJK (C) Lay Keow in Permatang Pauh, was happy with the turnout and smooth balloting.

Here too supporters of both parties were involved in a verbal tussle.