Early Voting For Armed Forces Personnel Proceeding Smoothly - Azhan

PORT DICKSON, July 28 (Bernama) -- The early voting process for the 16th Negeri Sembilan state election involving armed forces personnel and their spouses is going smoothly, with more than 60 per cent of voters fulfilling their responsibilities as of 12 noon today.

Army chief General Tan Sri Azhan Md Othman said he had inspected the early voting process at the Rasah Camp, Seremban and the Army Basic Training Centre (PUSASDA) here and found that everything was going smoothly.

"I inspected the Rasah Camp this morning and am currently at PUSASDA to see how the early voting is going. From my observations, everything is going smoothly," he said when met by reporters after inspecting the early voting process at PUSASDA here today.

(From left) Khairunisa Md Yunus, 22, Shamimie Afiza Mohd Razali, 20, Noor Shazriennah Lajim, 20, and Siti Zulaikha Abdullah, 23, show their inked fingers after casting their ballots during early voting for the 16th Negeri Sembilan state election at the Malaysian Army Basic Training Centre (PUSASDA), Port Dickson this morning.

He said a total of 16,884 military personnel and spouses were registered as early voters for the Negeri Sembilan polls, with 63 per cent of the total having fulfilled their voting responsibilities so far, while the rest voted by post.

Azhan said he expected the voter turnout among military personnel and their spouses to exceed 90 per cent when the early voting process closes at 5 pm today, in line with the Election Commission's (EC) target.

Early voting involved a total of 22,339 voters with 16,467 people voting physically today comprising 11,293 military personnel and spouses and 5,174 police personnel and spouses while the rest voted by post.

The 16th Negeri Sembilan state election saw 103 candidates vying for 36 state seats with voting day for 867,151 voters set for this Saturday.

-- BERNAMA