3-in-1 By-Elections on April 7

The SPR decided to hold 3 by-elections simultaneously for Bukit Selambau (Kedah), Bukit Gantang (Perak), and Batang Ai (Sarawak) on April 7. To hold 3 by-elections in the middle of the week, that will stretch the resources for every media outlet, NGO, opposition party, and volunteers - except for the governing BN coaltion that has strangely never been punished by the SPR for blatant abuses of government resources during by-elections.

Update: No 4th by-election, in Pensiangan. On 2009 March 13, the federal court has decided to overturn an earlier High Court decision to nullify the Pensiangan resuult.

On February 13, the SPR announced that Bukit Gantang (parliamentary seat) and Bukit Selambau (state seat) by-elections will be held simultaneously on April 7. (Emphases added.) http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=389501

Bukit Gantang, Bukit Selambau Polls On April 7 PUTRAJAYA, Feb 13 (Bernama) -- The Bukit Gantang parliamentary and Bukit Selambau state by-elections will be held simultaneously on April 7. Nomination is on March 29. Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof made the announcement after chairing a special meeting to discuss the by-election dates, which lasted nearly two hours, at the EC headquarters here today. The Bukit Gantang seat in Perak fell vacant after incumbent Roslan Shaharum of PAS died of a heart attack on Monday. On the same day, V. Arumugam of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) resigned as Kedah's Bukit Selambau assemblyman. Abdul Aziz told a news conference that the writs for the by-elections would be issued on Feb 16 and and the notices on Feb 17. Abdul Aziz said the electoral roll to be used was the Master Electoral Roll 2007 which had been merged with the supplementary electoral rolls for the first, second and third quarters of 2008. He said there were 55,562 registered voters in the Bukit Gantang constituency comprising 55,426 ordinary voters and 136 postal voters while Bukit Selambau had 35,140 registered voters -- 35,125 ordinary and 15 postal. He said the electoral rolls without polling streams would be on sale from Feb 21 and those with polling streams on Feb 25. There would be 32 polling centres and 111 polling streams in Bukit Gantang and 22 polling centres and 64 polling streams in Bukit Selambau. The nomination and vote-counting centres for Bukit Gantang would be at the Taiping Municipal Town Hall while the centres for Bukit Selambau would be at Sekolah Menengah Teknik Satu, Sungai Petani. Voters can check their polling centres at the EC web site at www.spr.gov.my of via SMS from Feb 25 by typing SPR IC number and sending to 15888. They can also call the EC headquarters in Putrajaya and the Perak and Kedah state election offices. -- BERNAMA

Then on March 4, the SPR announced that Batang Ai (Sarawak) state seat by-election will be will be held on April 7, the same day as the other 2 by-elections of Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau. (Emphases added.) http://bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=393939

April 7 For Batang Ai State By-election KUCHING, March 4 (Bernama) -- Polling for the Batang Ai state by-election here will be held on April 7, simultaneously with the polls for the Bukit Gantang parliamentary seat in Perak and Bukit Selambau state seat in Kedah. Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said today nomination was fixed for March 29, like for the other two seats. Notice of the writ would be issued on Friday. The seat fell vacant following the death of incumbent Datuk Dublin Unting Ingkot, the Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) vice-president, on Feb 24. Abdul Aziz said that after considering several factors, the EC felt that the Sarawak EC officer was ready for the by-election and it was timely to hold the by-elections simultaneously to avoid a long campaigning period. An allocation of RM400,000 had been approved for the by-election, he told reporters after chairing a two-hour meeting to set the polling date. A total of 24 polling centres would be opened at schools, longhouses, kindergartens and government premises while 201 workers would be deployed, he said adding that Batang Ai had 8,006 registered voters comprising 7,963 ordinary and 43 postal voters. Abdul Aziz said the EC had also agreed to set up an election campaign enforcement team led by an enforcement officer and comprising a police officer, a local authority representative representatives of the candidates to monitor the campaigning besides allowing Malaysia For Free and Fair Election (Mafrel) to act as observers in the by-election. Dublin won the Iban-majority seat in the state election in May 2006, beating Nicholas Bawin Anggat of Sarawak National Party (Snap) by 806 votes, and was appointed state Assistant Sports and Agriculture Minister. -- BERNAMA