Azmin: PN's support level intact despite losing
MAHKOTA POLLS | Polling in Mahkota has closed and vote counting is underway.
The contest is a straight fight between BN candidate Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah and Perikatan Nasional’s Mohamad Haizan Jaafar.
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MAHKOTA POLLS | Polling in Mahkota has closed and vote counting is underway.
The contest is a straight fight between BN candidate Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah and Perikatan Nasional’s Mohamad Haizan Jaafar.
Thank you for following Malaysiakini’s live updates.
‘I didn’t expect to win big’
10pm: Newly-minted Mahkota assemblyperson Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah says he never expected to win with such a huge margin.
Expressing his gratitude to voters in Mandarin upon request, he says that he would have been content winning with just five votes.
"I didn’t expect to win by this much… if I could win, five votes would be (been) enough. I often tell people that five votes are enough."
Syed Hussien also says that during campaigning, he always felt like his entire family was helping him during the process as constituents would remind him of their friendship with his late father or grandfather.
"I feel like this is a family campaign. It’s not just about the political party, friends or about me and but the entire Kluang community."
BN retains Mahkota seat
9.15pm: BN retains Johor's Mahkota state seat by a landslide majority of 20,648 votes, according to the Election Commission.
Official results show BN's Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah polling 27,795 votes against Perikatan Nasional's Mohamad Haizan Jaafar - who received 7,347 votes.
A total 35,342 ballots were cast for a final turnout rate of 53.84 percent. There were 339 rejected ballots and 24 unreturned ballot papers.
Support for PN still solid, Azmin says
8.20pm: Perikatan Nasional by-election campaign director Azmin Ali says the support for his coalition has not wavered.
This is based on the number of votes PN received in this polls and in the last state election, he explains.
“We would also like to share this evening that the support PN has received has been good.
“And we see that the voter base has not changed or declined compared to the last state election,” he tells a press conference at the PN command centre on Jalan Dahlia in Kampung Melayu.
Azmin also says he accepts the decision made by Mahkota voters.
Meanwhile, the Bersatu leader accuses Umno of using government machinery at the state and federal levels in order to garner support in the by-election.
He further highlights the low voter turnout rate, saying it must be taken seriously by all parties.
PN’s abysmal performance
7.50pm: Perikatan Nasional's performance in Mahkota has declined in comparison to the 15th general election.
Not counting early and postal votes, PN bagged 6,134 votes today, according to unofficial results.
In comparison, during the GE15 for the Kluang parliamentary seat, PN had secured 8,750 votes.
This is a 29.8 percent drop in votes in comparison.
Disgrunted Chinese voters
7.35pm: Despite BN's landslide victory, there is a strong indication that many Chinese voters had given the by-election a miss.
Bandar Tengah is Mahkota's biggest non-Malay constituency, where the Chinese make up almost 80 percent of the electorate.
However, with all six ballot boxes from the district counted, only 1,335 votes were cast there according to unofficial results - of which 1,212 went to BN.
By comparison, 1,925 votes were cast in Bandar Tengah during the 15th general election, in which Pakatan Harapan garnered 1,442 votes and BN, 349.
Perikatan Nasional's support level in Bandar Tengah is relatively unchanged, from 129 in GE15 to 123 in today's by-election.
Turnout is likewise lower in other non-Malay districts such as Taman Lian Seng and Indah Jaya.
Defying critics
7.25pm: BN's performance is set to defy critics and all expectations for how the Mahkota by-election would turn out.
Unofficial results coming from the BN camp show that in their landslide victory, BN is also set to sweep up all 18 polling districts in Mahkota, in addition to the early votes and postal votes.
In the previous general election, during polling for the Kluang parliament seat, PN had won three polling districts - Kampung Melayu I, Kampung Melayu II and Sri Tengah - in addition to the early votes.
BN has captured those districts comfortably. It also appears to have reversed PN's gains in Kampung Baru, a district which the opposition coalition was keen to flip.
Unofficial: BN trounces opposition
7.15pm: BN has unofficially won the Mahkota by-election.
The coalition has amassed over 19,000 votes according to unofficial results.
This far exceeds current projections for 50 percent of votes based on a 55 percent turnout.
BN leading
6pm: Unofficial results have BN taking an early lead, bagging 3,119 of the early votes compared to 1,088 from Perikatan Nasional.
The early votes mostly came from the Mahkota military camp, one of the largest in Johor.
Meanwhile, turnout for the by-election today appears to have been hampered by bad weather.
Malaysiakini journalists passing by Taman Suria found water levels at some parts above ankle level.
