39% voter turnout in Sarawak polls at noon

39% voter turnout in Sarawak polls at noon

Less than half of eligible voters have gone out to cast their ballots.

Voter turnout in the Sarawak polls has been affected by the rain. (Bernama pic)
KUCHING:
Less than half of the eligible voters have gone out to cast their ballots, with the Election Commission reporting a 39% voter turnout as of noon.

This means that more than 488,000 votes have been cast so far, with polling scheduled to end at 5.30pm.

A total of 1,252,014 voters are eligible to vote in the Sarawak elections.

Polling centres in Kuching had opened under gloomy skies from 7.30am onwards.

While some sunshine had broken through the clouds from 9.30am, it started to rain again around noon.

The highly anticipated election sees 10 parties, including Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB), DAP and PKR as well as 30 independent candidates, taking part.

A total of 349 candidates are in the running for the 82 seats up for grabs at the polls, which  has four straight fights, 13 three-cornered fights, 33 four-cornered fights, 24 five-cornered fights, seven six-cornered fights and one eight-cornered fight.

Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.