Eager to do their part, Johor polls open with strong voter turnout
SIMPANG RENGGAM - The 15th Johor state election opens up a strong turnout this morning, at least based on the observation at the Sekolah Kebangsaan Simpang Renggam, here.
The voting centre which opened at 8am, saw many young and mostly old lining up while following strict Covid-19 SOP before being directed to their respective voting lanes.
Speaking to Sinar Daily, Mohd Azali Abdan, 41, said the voting process went smooth although he had to wait slightly longer than expected as there were many who turned out to vote early in the morning.
"So far the voting process have been smooth but it took a bit of time because there were quite a few people lining up this morning," he said.
Mohd Azali was accompanied by his brother Mohd Redzuan Abdan, 44, who also praised the hassle-free voting process this morning.
"There were no hiccups and everything was smooth. So happy to do my part," he said.
Old time resident of Simpang Renggam, Lim Piak, 86 also turned out to vote this morning.
Dressed in a blue shirt and short baggy pants, Lim was ecstatic when met outside the polling centre just after casting his ballot.
"I had to wait for 20 minutes as there were many people in my voting lane but it was all good. I'm done and now I want to head home to relax," he told Sinar Daily while laughing.
For first time voter, Mohd Shafiq Yusri, 23, he said the entire voting process took less than five minutes.
"There weren't that many people in my voting lane compared to the elderly. For me it was fast and there were no issues when casting my ballot," he said.
For Sekolah Kebangsaan Simpang Renggam, the Election Commission (EC) had also prepared a shuttle service for the elderly starting from the school gate to the entrance of the voting centre inside the school.
In a statement today, EC secretary Ikmalrudin Ishak advised Johoreans not to cast their ballots at the last minute.
Johoreans can cast their ballot any time from 8am until 6pm.
For the state election today, the EC has placed 49,290 staff spread out in 1,021 polling centres to ensure a smooth voting process.
Some 2,539,606 registered voters are expected to cast their ballot today.
