KLUANG, The Election Commission (EC) announced that as of 2 pm, 38.53% of the 61,274 voters in the Mahkota state assembly by-election have cast their ballots. Voting is taking place at 20 polling centres with 109 voting streams, and will continue until 6 pm. EC chairman Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun stated that the commission is targeting a voter turnout of over 60% for this by-election. So far, the weather in Kluang remains favourable, although the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) has forecasted rain in the afternoon. Once the voting process concludes, the ballot counting will be conducted at the respective polling centres, followed by the vote tallying process at Dewan Tunku Ibrahim Ismail, with results expected as early as 9 pm. The Mahkota by-election is a straight contest between Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Syed Hussien Syed Abdullah and Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate Mohamad Haizan Jaafar. Early voting took place last Tuesday, involving 4,437 military personnel and their spouses , as well as police officers. Additionally, 607 postal ballots were issued on Sept 15. Source: BERNAMA News Agency