Some voters who came to vote for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat did not know that two people had dropped out of the race to make room for Pakatan Harapan’s Sofee Razak.
Student Azieza Nour Afifah Azman Zahidi, 20, who is a first-time candidate, said she was happy to serve her country but was unaware that there were candidates who decided not to run. Azieza, who is continuing his studies at a public university in Perak, said he returned to Kampung Tunku Putra here last Friday but was not told about it.
“I can’t watch the news because there is no TV in my hostel. “I am at home now because it is our mid-semester break,” he said when met after the election at SMK Sultan Badlishah here.
Another voter, the wife of Fauziah Desa, 58, said that she must have missed the notification about the exclusion of the candidates. “I don’t know about it at all. I vote here even though I live in Kulim-Bandar Baharu Constituency because I rent a house here,” he said. Meanwhile, 21-year-old Luqman Hakim Aliakabar said he learned that the contestants were running away from the competition through social media.
Luqman, who is from Kampung Syed Sheikh here, said that although it was his first time to vote, it made him aware of what is happening in the current government. “I know that the two people running for office have been withdrawn. Therefore there is no need to vote for them regardless of their name on the ballot. Also, I have decided who I will vote for,” he said.
Earlier, Barisan Nasional candidate C Sivaraj and Bakhri Hashim of Warisan dropped out of the race for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat to make room for Sofee. However, the names of these two people still appear on the ballot, based on Section 9 of the 1981 Electoral Act, which states that anyone can withdraw from the contest after completing the nomination process.
