KLUANG: Despite the hectic schedule on their wedding day, a newly married couple took time to fulfil their civic duty during the Mahkota by-election today.
Nurarissa Shazni Kamal and her husband Mohammad Hafizzudin Anaffiah, both 27, arrived at the polling centre at Sekolah Agama Gunung Lambak in full wedding attire.
Nurarissa, who is currently unemployed, said she never expected their joke about standing out if they voted in their wedding outfits would become a reality when journalists interviewed them at the polling station.
"My husband voted earlier at SK Kampung Tengah at noon, and I rushed here after our wedding reception at Kampung Melayu.
"We were both excited and happy despite feeling exhausted from the morning's ceremony and the reception.
"After this, we still have a photography session," she said.
In the rush, Nurarissa forgot her identification card, but her friend, who was driving, quickly returned to retrieve it, allowing her to cast her vote at the second channel just in time.
Meanwhile, Hafizzudin, an operations executive at a private firm, said the couple had known each other since school, growing closer in 2022.
"I attended SMK Tengku Aris Bendahara while my wife studied at SMK Sultan Abdul Jalil.
"I made the first move and asked her to marry me, and we spent three months preparing for the wedding, never imagining it would coincide with the by-election."
As of 4pm, the Election Commission reported a voter turnout of 47.16 per cent.
Polling will continue until 6pm, before all centres are simultaneously shut.
The vote tallying will take place at Dewan Tunku Ibrahim Ismail.
Unofficial results are expected by 9pm.
The by-election is seeing a straight fight between Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah and Perikatan Nasional's (PN) Mohamad Haizan Jaafar.
The previous Mahkota assemblyman, the late Datuk Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain, won the seat with a 5,166-vote majority in the Johor state election two years ago.