GUA MUSANG: The Election Commission will use helicopters to send and collect ballot boxes from two Orang Asli settlements in a remote area here during the upcoming Nenggiri by-election.
Returning Officer for the by-election Nik Raisnan Daud said this because the two areas - Pos Simpor and Pos Gob - cannot be accessed by regular vehicles.
The two settlements are located between 100km and 116.4 km from Dewan Perdana at the Gua Musang District Council complex.
He added there are 999 registered voters in the two settlements.
"The two posts are located far from Dewan Perdana, the place where the
nomination process and official vote tallying will be held.
"It will take between three to four hours to go to the Pos Simpor community hall and Pos Gob community education centre via special four-wheel-drive vehicles.
"Therefore, the EC has to use two helicopters to go to this places," he said, adding it would take between 20 to 30 minutes for the helicopters to reach the settlements.
It is learnt that the electoral roll used for the Nenggiri state seat by-election contains 20,245 registered voters.
There are 20 regular polling centres with 46 voting streams and one early voting centre.
The Nenggiri by-election was called after Kelantan Speaker Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah declared the seat, previously held by Mohd Azizi Abu Naim vacant.
Mohd Azizi, who is also the Gua Musang member of parliament, was among the seven elected representatives dismissed from Bersatu for supporting the unity government.
In the Kelantan state election held in August last year, Mohd Azizi won Nenggiri with a narrow majority of 810 votes in a straight fight against a BN candidate.
The Election Commission (EC) has set nomination and early voting dates for the by-election for Aug 3 and Aug 13, respectively, with polling day on Aug 17.
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