BALINGIAN Polling for early voters in the Balingian by-election ended at 5pm today with 132 or 99.25 percent having cast their ballot at the police headquarters multipurpose hall in Mukah.

Election Commission secretary Abdul Ghani Salleh said only one of the 133 registered early voters failed to turn up.

“We do not know why the voter did not turn up. But the commission is  satisfied with the process today,” he said when contacted by Bernama in Mukah.

A total of 13,233 voters would be casting their ballot this Saturday at 21 polling centres.

The commission expects to announce the results by 9pm, at the Dewan Suarah Mesra in Mukah.

The ordinary polling is scheduled for Saturday, and the rest of the 13,366 voters will cast their ballots at 21 polling streams then.  

Yussibnosh Balo, 48, of the Barisan Nasional is engaged in a straight fight with Abdul Jalil Bujang, 55, of PKR in the by-election, necessitated by the resignation of Abdul Taib Mahmud on Feb 28 when he stepped down as the chief minister. Taib is now the Yang Dipertua Negeri.

In the Sarawak state elections in 2011, Taib retained the seat with a majority of 5,154 votes in a three-cornered contest which also involved Suriati Abdullah of PKR and Independent candidate Salleh Jafaruddin.  

- Bernama