CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Barisan Nasional candidate Ramli Mohd Nor has created history by becoming the first person from the Orang Asli community to be elected to the Dewan Rakyat.
Ramli retained the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat for BN after securing a 3,238-vote majority against M. Manogaran from Pakatan Harapan.
The former top police officer, who polled 12,038 votes, bettered BN's previous performance in the 13th and 14th General Elections.
In GE14, BN won with a 597-vote majority while in GE13, the former ruling coalition won with a majority of 462 votes.
This is also the first by-election won by BN since Pakatan Harapan took over the federal government in May last year.
The previous by-elections held in Sungai Kandis, Seri Setia, Balakong and Port Dickson were all won by PH.
Ramli's victory sees BN winning in Cameron Highlands for the fifth time since the seat was created in 2004.
BN successfully defended the seat in the previous general elections in 2008, 2013 and 2018.
Manogaran failed in his third bid for the seat as he only polled 8,800 votes.
Independent candidate Sallehudin Ab Talib, meanwhile, polled 314 votes and Wong Seng Yee, also an Independent, polled 276 votes.
Both Independent candidates lost their RM10,000 deposits after failing to obtain one-eighth of the total votes cast in the constituency.
The official results were announced by the Election Commission (EC) returning officer Datuk Ishak Md Napis at the vote tallying centre in Dewan Gemilang of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sultan Ahmad Shah, here, tonight.
Earlier, the ballot boxes began arriving at the hall after 5pm.
Overseas voting was open for registration from Dec 19 Dec 2018 and closed on Jan 11, 2019.
A total of 21,428 voters cast their ballots at 27 polling stations located in the Jelai and Tanah Rata state constituencies. There were 568 spoiled votes.
A total of 32,009 registered voters, including 247 early voters, 12 absentee voters and 385 disabled voters, were eligible to vote.
The early voters comprise serving and retired police personnel who completed their responsibilities on Jan 22, and saw a turnout of 87 per cent or 216 voters.
According to the EC, voter turnout today was at 68.79 per cent, the highest so far for all the by-elections held after GE14.
The Sungai Kandis by-election saw a voter turnout of 49.8 per cent, Seri Setia (44 per cent), Balakong (43 per cent) and Port Dickson (58.3 per cent).
However, the voter turnout in Cameron Highlands today was worse compared to previous general elections.
In GE14, Cameron Highlands saw a voter turnout of 79.03 per cent turnout, 13th General Election (81.32 per cent); 12th General Election (70.14 per cent); and 11th General Election (65.92 per cent).
The Cameron Highlands by-election was held following a decision by the Election Court to nullify BN candidate Datuk C. Sivarrajh’s victory in GE14.
The court had ruled that during the election, there were elements of bribery involved in a bid to sway voters in the area.
Sivarraajh, who faced a five-cornered fight in GE14, won the seat by polling 10,307 votes, while Manogaran garnered 9,710 votes.
Pas candidate Wan Mahadir Wan Mahmud polled 3,587 votes, Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s B.Suresh Kumar (680), and Berjasa candidate Mohd Tahir Kassim (81).