Pelangai by-election: Decline in BN's votes due to poor voter turnout
ALOR SETAR - The decline in votes for Barisan Nasional (BN) in the Pelangai by-election was due to a poor voter turnout.
Political analyst Dr Ahmad Zaharuddin Sani Ahmad Sabri said, however, BN's vote in the by-election increased to 61.7 per cent compared to 56.9 per cent in the 15th General Election (GE15).
He said this showed an increase of 4.8 per cent.
"If we combine BN's votes with those of Pakatan Harapan (PH) in GE15, it would be 72.7 per cent, or 9,339 votes, a difference of 2,015 votes.
"If the total BN votes plus PH votes (GE15) is compared to the vote count in the by-election, there is a decline in votes.
"This is due to the difference in voter turnout in the by-election, which was 72.12 per cent compared to GE15, which was 78.4 per cent," he said here today.
Ahmad Zaharuddin Sani said Perikatan Nasional (PN) votes increased by 11.5 per cent, with votes increasing from 25.4 per cent in GE15 to 36.9 per cent in the by-election.
"Overall, BN won with 61.7 per cent (7,324 votes) and a majority of 2,949 votes. Meanwhile, PN obtained 36.9 per cent (4,375 votes)," he explained.
He said Malay support for BN was estimated to be higher, at 52.1 per cent compared to PN's 46.8 per cent.
"The independent candidate only managed to garner about 0.4 per cent of Malay support.
"The majority of Chinese support for BN is quite high at 97 per cent, while PN only received 2.8 per cent and the Independent candidate one per cent," he said.
Ahmad Zaharuddin Sani said the voting pattern for 18-year-old Malay voters showed that for the 18-24 age group, BN won with 53 per cent (247 votes) compared to PN (47 per cent or 218 votes).
"BN dominated the early votes, especially for those aged 18–24.
"For the 25–50 age group, PN maintained its control, just like in GE15 for Malay votes.
"Malay BN voters aged 50 and above remained loyal to BN," he said.
Furthermore, based on the voting pattern in the channels and Polling District Centres (PDM), BN won seven out of nine PDMs, covering 24 out of 32 channels.
"PN, on the other hand, won two out of nine PDMs, covering eight out of 32 channels," he added.
Ahmad Zaharuddin Sani also made a comparison of the voting pattern based on Felda areas and described the area as no longer being a permanent BN stronghold.
"PN won in two polling districts, namely Felda Sungai Kemahal (49.3 per cent) and BN (49.5 per cent), which saw channels one and four won by BN and channels two and three won by PN. This only involved a difference of 0.2 per cent.
"Felda Sungai Kemasul (PN: 55.9 per cent, BN: 43 per cent), with channel one won by BN and the rest won by PN with a difference of 12.9 percent," he said.
He added that PN candidate Kasim Samat lost in his village as a candidate in Felda Chemomoi, which gave victory to BN with 53.8 percent compared to PN (45.2 per cent).
"In Chemomoi, BN won in channels one, two, and five, with the rest controlled by PN," he added.
In the by-election, BN candidate Datuk Amizar Abu Adam won with a majority of 2,949 votes after receiving 7,324 votes, defeating PN candidate Kasim Samat with 4,375 votes and independent candidate Haslihelmy DM Zulhasni with 47 votes.
