PD POLLS | DAY 11 | Campaigning by the seven candidates running in the Port Dickson by-election continues today.

Malaysiakini brings you live reports of the campaigning on the ground.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Loke announces RM10k allocation for temple
Early voting ends with 63pct turnout
Expect 'shocking results', says newly formed NGO
Isa denies representing Umno
Kan claims 10 PD companies linked to MRT2 project
Saiful launches website to promote tourism in PD
35 percent turnout as of 11am
24 percent turnout as of 10am
12 percent turnout as of 9am
Army voters, spouses, cast early votes
Harapan mulls free bus service for voters on Oct 13 - PKR info chief

12am: Thank you for following our live updates of day 11 of the Port Dickson by-election campaign. This thread is now closed.

Loke announces RM10k allocation for temple

9.00pm: Lukut – Transport Minister Anthony Loke announces an RM10,000 allocation for the construction of the Xi Tian Niang Niang Gong temple in Lukut during a fundraising dinner.

"I am here as the only cabinet minister from Negeri Sembilan, and I will allocate RM10,000 tonight."

Loke, the Seremban MP, stresses that the allocation has nothing to do with Port Dickson by-election, saying that he was invited to Lukut approximately one month ago.

"Many organisations around Negeri Sembilan invited me, and I have given allocations throughout the state," he tells the crowd at a fundraising dinner for the temple.

Earlier, Lukut state assemblyperson Choo Ken Hwa also announced an RM5,000 allocation.

Early voting ends with 63pct turnout

6pm: Port Dickson – At the close of early voting for the by-election, voter turnout stands at 63 percent, according to Bernama.

All three polling centres – the Army Basic Training Centre hangar, the Segenting Camp multipurpose hall, and the Port Dickson police headquarter – closed at 5.30pm.

According to returning officer Khairy Maamor, the 4,564 ballots cast were from police and military personnel and their spouses.

Expect 'shocking result', says newly formed NGO

5pm: Port Dickson - A new NGO dubbed "YY Connections" claims that it can cause a 'shocking result' in the by-election.

Its administrator Loo Choon Chew alleges that the group has the power to influence the result due to its 10,000-strong membership.

At a press conference, the former serviceman claims that incumbent Danyal had secured a convicing 17,170 majority votes in the 14th general election partly because the army members had campaigned for the PKR candidate.

"YY Connections can decide who can win the (by-election by urging our members to vote for the candidate).

"But we have not made any decision yet," he says.

The NGO was formed after the resignation of Danyal.

Isa denies representing Umno

5pm: Port Dickson - Former Negeri Sembilan menteri besar Mohd Isa Abdul Samad has refuted allegations by some quarters claiming his involvement as an independent candidate in the by-election was to represent Umno.

The former Felda chairperson also stressed that his decision to contest was due to the fact that Umno boycotted the by-election and the party’s objection over the fact that the parliamentary seat was deliberately vacated.

“If there are any parties claiming that I am contesting as an Umno agent, I deny that…what is the point for me to contest as an Umno agent? I think that is not right. I have no reason to be an Umno agent," he told reporters.

He was commenting on the allegations that his participation as an independent candidate was viewed as a representation of Umno to save the party from embarrassment if it was to lose the election.

Mohd Isa announced that his resignation from Umno on Sept 27, two days before the nomination day.

Kan claims 10 companies in PD linked to MRT2 project

4.30pm: Lukut - Independent candidate Myocho Kan is urging the government to maintain MMC-Gamuda as the contractor for the RM16.71 billion underground portion of the MRT2 project.

The cancellation of the contract will cause the loss of 20,000 jobs as there are over 600 companies in the supply chain of MRT2 project, including 10 local companies in Port Dickson, he said.

"In order to revitalise the economy, the review of the project has no problem, which is on the right track. But there is a big difference between cost cutting and cost optimisation," Myocho told the media during his press conference here.

"What we have seen so far is only cost cutting but not cost optimisation. When you retender the project, I don't see any cost optimisation," he added.

He suggested that the current government should mantain the contract but undergo cost rationalisation to adjust the scope to increase the value of the project while reducing the cost.

When asked the ten local companies' nature of business, Myocho said that he did not have the details but added that he got this information from sources which he could not disclose.

Saiful launches website to promote tourism in PD

3.30pm: Port Dickson - Independent candidate Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan has launched a website called ExplorePD.com in an effort to further promote tourism in Port Dickson.

“This website is to make it easier for the public to get information on interesting places such as good local food, transportation and so on,” he said in a statement today.

While there are guides available for tourist spots in Port Dickson, they are not integrated in any one place, he added.

The ExplorePD.com website is meant to be a one stop centre for tourists in Port Dickson, he said.

He has included information about local traders and water sports operators on the site as a form of “free marketing”, he added.

35 percent turnout as of 11am

11.45pm: Port Dickson - EC reports that voter turnout stands at 35 percent as of 11am.

24 percent turnout as of 10am

10.20am: Port Dickson - EC says that as of 10am, 24 percent of early voters have cast their ballots.

Early voting: 12 percent turnout as of 9am

10am: Port Dickson - The Election Commission says 12 percent of early voters have cast their ballots as of 9am.

There are 7,268 early voters in total, of which 6,690 are from the army while 578 are from the police.

Army voters, spouses, cast early votes

8am: Pusat Latihan Asas Tentera Darat (Pusasda) - Army voters and their spouses are already gathered here to cast their early votes in the Port Dickson by-election.

According to a press release by the Malaysian Army, there are 2,981 military personnel eligible to vote at this camp, with 1,250 spouses.

Early voting will also take place at the Segenting camp and the Port Dickson police district headquarters today.

Some of the candidates in the by-election are expected to visit the early voting centres, such as PAS candidate Mohd Nazari Mokhtar and independent candidates Mohd Isa Abdul Samad and Lau Seck Yan.

The new Election Commission (EC) chief Azhar Harun is also scheduled to visit all three early polling centres in Port Dickson today.

Harapan mulls free bus service for voters on Oct 13 - PKR info chief

7.30am: Port Dickson town - Pakatan Harapan plans to provide two free buses to ferry voters back to vote with hopes to push the voter turnout to 70 percent, reports Sin Chew Daily.

The report quotes PKR information chief Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh as saying yesterday that Harapan is working with NGOs to provide the bus services.

He also announces that voters who take ride-hailing service Grab to come home to vote, will get an RM5 discount.

A total 9,000 voters reside outside Port Dickson - 5,000 of them in Negeri Sembilan, while 4,000 stay outside of the state.