Overheating Voters Face Problems Entering Polling Centres

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We bring you updates on the ground in Sabah as voting takes place from 8am to 5.30pm.

PKR Sabah chief 'no idea' if Anwar's announcement will affect state polls
10.25am: SRK Sacred Heart, Kota Kinabalu - PKR’s Api-Api candidate Christina Liew has just voted here. Earlier, she went to three other voting centres in the constituency to monitor the situation.



Liew, who is the Api-Api incumbent, says there were some “teething problems” with the voting process due to the Covid-19 SOPs.
However, the Sabah PKR chief says things have settled down since then.
When asked whether PKR president Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement on Wednesday regarding his new majority at the federal level would affect the Sabah state elections, Liew says she has “no idea”.
“I have no idea but whatever it is, we focus now on the state election,” she says.
She also says that she has a “good feeling” most of the PKR candidates can win.


Read more: The who's who in the Sabah 2020 election


'Nice weather, I hope more will vote', says Jeffrey in Tambunan

10.20am: SK Pekan, Tambunan, Keningau - Star president Jeffrey Kitingan casts his vote accompanied by wife Cecilia Edwin.
Even though a low turnout rate is expected due to a fear of Covid-19, the Keningau MP still hopes the people will exercise their duty to vote as the SOPs to prevent the spread of the virus are being strictly implemented.
"I hope more will come out (to vote) given that the weather seems nice today," he adds.


Kitingan (photo) is defending the Tambunan seat against five candidates, including PBS candidate Silverius Bruno who has already declared his support for Kitingan as part of a deal between the two parties.
Tambunan is an interior seat which has 16,511 voters.

Overheating voters face problems entering polling centres
10.15am: SMK Bukit Garam, Kinabatangan - Sweat soaks through the protective gown worn by a health officer on duty outside SMK Bukit Garam, a polling station for N58 Lamag. Overall four officers are taking turns to record voter temperatures.
It has been less than three hours since polling booths opened but the blazing sun is forcing more voters to 'cool off' after recording temperatures above 37.5 degrees.

Many of them are explaining to the officers on duty they had to walk a distance under the sun as they parked their cars far away from the school entrance.

Rahman Dahlan calls on voters to support Hajiji
10.10am - In a Facebook post late last night, Tuaran Sabah chief Abdul Rahman Dahlan called on voters to give Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) a stable majority in today’s election.

He also threw his support behind Perikatan Nasional (PN)’s Sulaman candidate Hajiji Mohd Noor.
This is amid tensions between Umno and Bersatu over their prospective chief minister candidate. Umno favours its Lamag candidate Bung Moktar Radin while Bersatu is mooting Sabah party chief Hajiji.
Rahman previously opposed Bung as Sabah election director but the duo appeared to resolve their differences after party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi intervened.

Api-Api indie candidate lauds smooth voting process


10.05am: SRK Sacred Heart, Kota Kinabalu - Independent candidate for Api-Api Sim See Heng is here to monitor this voting centre.
He voted earlier at SJK(C) Chung Hwa.
Sim says the situation here is satisfactory and points out that due to limited space, the younger voters have to go upstairs to vote.


Meanwhile, he says the voting centre at SJK(C) Chung Hwa was very efficient and had a wide enough space to accommodate physical distancing.

Kit Siang says today's poll results will affect national elections
10am - DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang has likened today’s poll to a “national” election and cautions that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s political survival is on the line.

In a polling day statement, he reminded Sabah voters that their choice will have country-wide consequences.
“The voters of Sabah go to the polls today to decide not only who will be the chief minister of Sabah but the future of the prime minister of Malaysia.
“No prime minister has campaigned so hard in the Sabah state general election as Muhyiddin,” Lim said.
He observed that the Bersatu president had visited the East Malaysian state four times over the past month despite not setting foot in Sabah in his first six months as premier. 


Warisan Plus candidate Darell Leiking votes
9.35am: SK Sugud, Moyog - Warisan Plus candidate for Moyog, Darell Leiking, arrives at the polling centre at SK Sugud school together with his wife Jennifer Jongiji.
However, it takes the 49-year-old Penampang MP almost half an hour before he could cast his ballot.



He is busy catching up with voters, many of whom are requesting to take selfies and to chat with him.
He declines to weigh his chances of winning Moyog.
"We must never be overconfident," he says, adding that he is a little bit tired from campaigning.
This is the first time the two-term Penampang MP is contesting in a state seat.
Moyog is one-half of the Penampang parliamentary constituency which comprises 19,465 voters - 71.12 percent are of the Kadazan Dusun Murut ethnicity.
The Moyog seat is seeing a seven-cornered fight where four of the candidates, included Darell himself, have family ties.
The family members include PN candidate Joe Suleiman, PCS candidate William Sampil, and PBS candidate John Chryso Masabal.
The voters in Moyog are seen to be open to change as they had abandoned BN-Upko, whom they supported two decades ago, to embrace PKR's Terrence Siambun in the 2013 polls as well as Warisan candidate Jennifer Lasimbang in 2018's GE14.


Noor Hisham announces healthcare reinforcements from peninsula
9.30am - As Covid-19 cases have been ballooning in Sabah ahead of polling day, Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah announces that five healthcare workers from Selangor and another five from Negeri Sembilan have been sent to the state to reinforce pandemic response efforts.

He shared on Facebook that they arrived in Lahad Datu yesterday.



This is the second batch from Peninsular Malaysia to be flown in after healthcare workers from Terengganu, Kelantan, Pahang, and Kuala Lumpur arrived in Tawau earlier this week.

“The mobilisation of healthcare workers to Sabah will be done in stages and involve those in various fields like physicians, assistant physicians, nurses, medical laboratory technologists, microbiology officers, and others,” Hisham said.
As of noon yesterday, Sabah recorded 730 active cases concentrated in Tawau, Semporna, Lahad Datu, and Kunak. 
Ambulance arrives carrying voters under home quarantine
9.25am: SMK Bukit Garam, Kinabatangan - An ambulance arrives at SMK Bukit Garam with two registered voters - a husband and wife, both of whom are listed as Persons Under Investigation (PUI) and who are currently undergoing home quarantine.


"We are not positive (for Covid-19), we are just under quarantine," one of them tells the health officer in charge of the temperature screening station.
A health officer on duty tells Malaysiakini that the couple carries a Health Ministry letter stating that they are allowed to leave their house to vote.
Sisters turn out to vote
9.15am: SK Pekan, Keningau - Sisters from the Catholic Church in Tambunan town are exercising their voting rights at the SK Pekan voting centre in Tambunan, Keningau.


They are checking their body temperatures before entering the voting station.
Some voters are seen clad in their traditional outfits.


PBS candidate for Api-Api Yee Moh Chai votes
9.10am: SJK(C) Chung Hwa, Kota Kinabalu - Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS)'s candidate for Api-Api, Yee Moh Chai, arrives at SJK(C) Chung Hwa, Kota Kinabalu to vote.

He follows Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) and is waiting for his turn to vote.


Along the way, he greets a few voters and helps straighten the wheel of a wheelchair for a voter.
He is accompanied by his wife and an aide.


Voters still adapting to new norms
9am: SJK(C) Chung Hwa, Kota Kinabalu - Voters at SJK(C) Chung Hwa, Kota Kinabalu are still unused to the new standard operating procedures (SOPs) put in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Movement in the voting centres has been streamlined, with only one entrance and one separate exit. However, not all voters are aware of this.


A number of voters are seen attempting to leave through the entrance, only for the officers on duty to direct them to the proper exit.
Meanwhile, wheelchairs are being provided for the elderly and disabled, if they require it.




EC officers carry elderly voter into voting room
8.35am: SMK Bukit Garam, Kinabatangan - Election Commission (EC) officers are assisting senior citizen Nursalin Darum, 65, to cast his vote in N58 Lamag.
Two officers lift Nursalin into the voting room for stream one, give him a boost up to the ballot box, and help him walk out the room after.


More EC officials are standing by to facilitate the voting process for the elderly and others with special needs. Many of them have been among the first in line, waiting since earlier this morning.



Voter turnout might be lower due to Covid-19 SOPs, says Shafie
8.30am: SK Bubul Semporna, Semporna - Warisan's Mohd Shafie Apdal leaves the polling station at SK Bubul Semporna after casting his ballot.
Speaking to reporters in front of his vehicle, Shafie admits there may be a decrease in voter turnout as a result of the Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) implemented at polling stations.
"Usually voters come out in the range of 70 percent more. But it is a bit slow, and (factoring in) the SOPs it may not be the same as before.
"We will try to make sure they will go down to vote to fulfil their responsibilities," he says.


Regarding the state election being conducted during the Covid-19 epidemic, which has seen a rise in the number of clusters in Sabah, Shafie says the government will do the necessary.
He says the authorities will ensure that control measures are tightened, such as no longer encouraging talks and rallies after campaigning, and tightening border controls.
"I have advised border control, as most of the epidemics come from our neighbours. Sometimes, they come on pilgrimage.
"I have informed the Esscom (Eastern Sabah Security Command) to tighten a little," Shafie says, before leaving the polling station.



Not swayed by cybertroopers, says Moyog voter
8.25am: SK Sugud, Moyog - Voter Corney Lius says he is present to cast his vote at SK Sugud for Warisan's Moyog candidate Darell Leiking.
"Their struggle has yet to be complete," he says.
"I don't believe that Warisan is a party that fights for the illegal immigrants. That is merely propaganda and instigated by cybertroopers. I still trust Warisan," says the 40-year-old.
"I have eight family members and some of them are voting for Warisan," he says.
Moyog is a Kadazandusun-Murut majority seat that is witnessing a seven-cornered fight in the state polls.



Star incumbent Robert Tawik confident of retaining Bingkor
8.20am: SK Bingkor, Keningau - Star's Bingkor candidate Robert Tawik arrives at the SK Bingkor district polling centre to cast his vote.


"We are confident we will win, as the support from PBS makes us even stronger," says the Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate.
Earlier, PBS had announced that it will stop campaigning in Bingkor and Tambunan as a way to resolve the seat overlap between PBS and Star who are nominally allies.
This district polling centre has a total of 1727 voters.


Hot weather at SK Bingkor polling centre
8.17am: SK Bingkor, Keningau - Voters here are going through screening stations to identify if any of them have a body temperature of over 37.5C or if they have symptoms of Covid-19.
"There may be voters whose temperatures are hot due to the weather and so on. We will first screen them before they are allowed in," said a health official at the station.
Star's Robert Tawik is defending the Bingkor seat against five other candidates.


Temperature checks at polling centres
8.15am: SJK(C) Chung Hwa, Kota Kinabalu - Voters here are going through screening measures for Covid-19 before being allowed to enter the polling centre.

Health officials are present, some to ensure physical distancing is adhered to, while others to the temperatures of voters.
Voters are directed to their respective voting streams in an orderly manner at a basketball court which has been converted into a waiting area.
Chairs set up for the voters are placed at least one metre apart from each other - part of measures being taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19 on polling day.
In recent days, Sabah has consistently recorded the highest number of new Covid-19 cases in the country. It also currently has a number of active clusters.




Shafie votes in Semporna
8.10am: SK Bubul Semporna, Semporna - Parti Warisan Sabah president Mohd Shafie Apdal arrives at SK Bubul Semporna to cast his vote.
The incumbent chief minister is seen arriving with his wife, wearing a white shirt and a face mask.


A guard at the entrance of the polling station applied disinfectant on Shafie's hand before letting him in.
Shafie waved to media personnel who have been waiting for him, before heading into the polling station.


Young voters out in force as Leiking contests Moyog
8.05am: SK Sugud, Moyog - Health officials are sanitising ballot boxes here every two hours to ensure they are safe for voters.

Dozens of voters, particularly those in their 20s and 30s are seen queueing up as election officials guide them through the voting process.

Outside the polling station, voters are seen being ferried in from their villages.
A man tells Malaysiakini that this service is being provided for voters who do not have any transportation.
"This is the instruction of the MP's office. We bring 10 voters in each trip from nearby villages," he says.
Warisan's Penampang MP Darell Leiking is contesting Moyog in a seven-cornered fight. 


Voters queue up in Lamag
8am: SMK Bukit Garam, Kinabatangan - Voters have been waiting in line outside the school gates here - one of 12 polling stations in N58 Lamag - from as early as 7am, 30 minutes before the official start of polling today.

Sabah Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin, who is also BN's candidate for Lamag, will be casting his vote here, under the Bukit Garam polling district, with 2,503 eligible voters in six voting streams.




There are a total of 8,159 eligible voters in Lamag - one of two state seats under the Kinabatangan parliamentary seat - which has been held by Bung since 1999.

Decision day in Sabah
7.45am - It's D-Day today - 'decision day' for the snap Sabah polls following a failed attempt to oust the ruling Warisan government.

It began when Umno’s Musa Aman announced in late July that he had gathered enough support from Sabah representatives who defected from their parties to form a new state government, with him returning as chief minister.
However, his coup attempt was thwarted by incumbent chief minister Shafie Apdal who dissolved the state assembly, paving the way for snap polls.
The Sabah election campaign has seen allies clashing with one another over seats and chief ministerial candidates as well as voter sentiments being whipped up over undocumented migrants, the Covid-19 pandemic, local parties versus Peninsular parties as well as development issues.




Now it will all come to a head as 1.12 million eligible Sabahans cast their votes to decide who will lead their new state government. 


Read more: The who's who in the Sabah 2020 election

With 73 seats up for grabs - up from 60 in the last election - voters can choose to support the Warisan Plus coalition, which is made up of Warisan, DAP, PKR, Amanah and United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko), or the new Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) comprising of Perikatan Nasional (PN), BN and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS). 


Smaller local parties such as Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) and Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) as well as independent candidates will also be joining the fight.


- Mkini

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