All 10 polling stations opened at 8am to allow the 18,216 voters in Pengkalan Pasir to cast their ballots in a by-election that could determine the political future of Kelantan.

The voters are part of the 18,411 registered voters in the constituency. A total of 195 people had already voted via post.

The polling centres are located in SK Banggol Chicha, SMK Perempuan Pasir Mas, SMK Kubang Bemban, SMK Sultan Ibrahim 2, SMK Sultan Ibrahim 3, SK Dato' Abdul Hamid 2, SK Dato' Abdul Hamid 1, SK Tanjong Chenak dan SK Mekasar for the Kasa and Sakar districts.

According to a Bernama report, the voting process is proceeding smoothly and the weather is fair despite earlier predictions of rain.

The polling centres will close at 5pm and the vote count will take place at the tallying centre in SMK Sultan Ibrahim Satu (1).

Three-cornered fight

The by-election for the state seat is a three-cornered fight between Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Hanafi Mamat, PAS' Hanifa Ahmad and Independent Ibrahim Ali.

It was called following the death of PAS incumbent Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Jaafar on Oct 31.

Hanafi and Hanifa are registered voters in the constituency while Ibrahim would not be able to cast his vote as he is registered in the Tendong constituency.

Hanifa was the first to arrive at Sekolah Kebangsaan Datuk Abdul Hamid 2 at about 7.30am followed by Hanafi 10 minutes later.

The results are expected to be announced at 9pm.

The contest is seen as crucial because a win for BN will leave PAS with only a single seat majority in the 45-seat state assembly and could pave the way for a snap election.