MELAKA: After 12 days of campaigning, the Melaka election culminates today with the people casting their ballots to decide who will lead the state.
A total of 217 polling stations and 1,109 voting streams in 28 constituencies will open from 8am to 5.30pm, under tight standard operating procedures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Voters will need to wear face masks, undergo body temperature checks, use hand sanitisers and practise physical distancing.
Early voting on Nov 16 saw an 89.9 per cent turnout, with 10,390 voters, consisting of police, military personnel and their spouses casting their ballots.
There are 112 candidates from Pakatan Harapan, Barisan Nasional, Perikatan Nasional, Putra and Iman, as well as Independents, standing in the election, which was called after four assemblymen withdrew their support for Chief Minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali last month.
All seats are seeing multi-cornered fights, comprising three to six candidates. Nine seats are considered "hot" due to the slim, sub-1,000-vote majorities that carried them in the 14th general election.
The Election Commission said 476,037 voters are eligible to cast their ballots today. Voters have been advised to arrive at the polling stations early and fully comply with the SOP.
Covid-19 measures also saw a ban on physical campaigning — a decision not without controversy following Melaka's entry into Phase 4 of the National Recovery Plan. Politicians from all sides had repeatedly appealed to the EC to relax the strict SOP so that they could ramp up their campaigns to meet more voters.
This led to some candidates being creative in their campaigning, including taking a horse ride to advertise their logo and "coffee breaks" at roadside stalls, apart from the aggressive use of social media to hold their ceramah online.
Under the watchful eyes of the authorities, SOP enforcement teams, made up of police and Health Department staff, issued 16 compounds totalling RM198,000 until Nov 15.
The offences included physical meetings, such as walkabouts, holding meetings in confined spaces, house visits and setting up public broadcast events that drew crowds. Also lodged were 130 reports on non-compoundable SOP violations, resulting in 41 investigations.
As of yesterday, the Melaka Health Department said Covid-19 infections between Nov 4 and 18 stood at 290 per 100,000 population, the fifth highest in the country. Nevertheless, enforcement of SOP has been deemed controversial by several political party leaders, who accused the authorities of high-handedness and bias.
Apart from railing against the SOP, politicians made pledges to improve the people's livelihoods, businesses, welfare, economy, education and health, following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Another issue that cropped up during campaigning was the possible low voter turnout due to, among others, political fatigue and Covid-19 fears.
Observers had argued that should the voter turnout dip below 50 per cent, it would provide an uneven playing field, leading to doubts on the political legitimacy of the winning party.
In the last 12 hours before the end of campaigning at 11.59pm yesterday, political leaders scrambled to meet voters and hold press conferences to convey their messages to the public.
The ramping up of campaigning was coupled with allegations that some candidates' handphones had been hacked.
Videos of candidates promoting themselves, praying at houses of worship, pushing a broken down car of a constituent and meeting voters, among others, were circulated on social media to up the ante in campaigning.
The official results are expected to be announced by the EC before midnight.
