EC chairman Azhar Harun said the commission had to refer to legal advisers before making a decision on the matter.
The Election Court declared Barisan Nasional’s (BN) election victory in Cameron Highlands null and void after ruling that there had been corrupt practices to influence the voters there.
Azhar said Cameron Highlands district officer Ishak Md Napis would be the returning officer for the by-election, which will cost an estimated RM3.5 million.
He said the EC would use the Cameron Highlands District and Land Office operations room as the nomination centre and the Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Silver Jubilee Hall as the vote-tallying centre.
A total of 811 workers have been appointed to conduct the by-election, he said, while 31 polling stations with 88 polling streams will be made available on polling day.
The Cameron Highlands by-election is the fifth by-election after the 14th general election (GE14). The first by-election was for the Sungai Kandis state seat (Aug 4); the second and third for the Balakong and Seri Setia state seats (Sept 8); and the fourth for the Port Dickson parliamentary seat (Oct 13).
The Election Court ordered the by-election for Cameron Highlands after declaring the election of C Sivarraajh of Barisan Nasional (BN) in GE14 null and void due to corrupt practices to influence voters. Sivarraajh did not appeal the court decision.
Sivarraajh polled 10,307 votes to win the seat with a majority of 597 votes in a five-cornered contest in GE14. The other candidates were M Manogaran of DAP (who secured 9,710 votes), Wan Mahadir Wan Mahmud of PAS (3,587 votes), Mohd Tahir Kassim of Berjasa (81 votes) and B Suresh Kumar of PSM (680 votes).
Manogaran, 59, filed an election petition on June 4 seeking a court order to declare the election null and void over the violation of provisions in the Election Offences Act 1954.
The Election Court declared the election null and void on Nov 30.
Yesterday, the Dewan Rakyat received a notification from the EC saying the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat had fallen vacant on Dec 15.