Kinabatangan: A total of 36 polling centres with 117 polling streams for the Kinabatangan parliamentary and Lamag state by-elections opened simultaneously at 7.30 am today.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, two centres will be closed at noon, while the remaining 34 will close in stages from 1 pm to 5.30 pm as 48,282 voters cast their ballots to choose a new Kinabatangan MP and new Lamag assemblyman.

The tallying of votes is scheduled to take place at Dewan Sri Lamag, with official results expected to be announced at 10 pm. A total of 1,106 Election Commission (EC) staff, along with 926 police officers and personnel, are involved in ensuring the smooth conduct of the by-elections.

The EC reported that 176 police personnel, representing 93 percent of official early voters, cast their votes for both by-elections on Tuesday.

Candidates vying for the Kinabatangan parliamentary seat include Mohd Kurniawan Naim Moktar of Barisan Nasional (BN), Datuk Saddi Abdul Rahman of Warisan, and Goldam Hamid, an Independent. For the Lamag state seat, the contest is between Mohd Ismail Ayob (BN) and Mazliwati Abdul Malek (Warisan).

All five candidates are casting their votes today at different polling centres: Mohd Kurniawan Naim at SK Bilit, Saddi at SK Batu Puteh, Goldam at SK Pekan Tongod, Mohd Ismail at SK Bukit Garam II, and Mazliwati at SK Buang Sayang.

The by-elections were necessitated by the passing of Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin on December 5 last year at the age of 66. He had secured the Kinabatangan seat in the 15th general election with a 4,330 majority and the Lamag seat on November 29 during the Sabah state election with a majority of 153 votes.