Seri Setia & Balakong By-Elections 2018

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10.45pm - Thank you for following our LIVE coverage of the vote counting process for the two by-elections. Reporting by Faisal Asyraf, Lu Wei Hoong, Shakira Buang and Wong Kai Hui. Analysis by Nigel Aw and Andrew Ong. Coding by Aizu Ikhmal Ahmad and Sean Ho. Social media content by Norman Goh.

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Harapan sweeps Malay-majority polling districts in Chinese-majority Balakong

10.30pm - ANALYSIS - Overall, Harapan appeared to have performed better in Malay majority areas during the BALAKONG by-election, compared to GE14.

There are four polling districts in this constituency where Malays form the majority and all four saw Harapan improving on its vote share. 

For instance, Bandar Tun Hussein Onn polling district saw Harapan polling 1,119 votes (76.02 percent) to MCA's 353 votes (23.98 percent).

This is an improvement of 18.86 percent for Harapan compared to 5.87 percent for MCA.

Previously, when PAS contested, it won 23.51 percent of the votes in this polling district with the most Malay voters, which forms 78.18 percent of the electorate here.

A similar trend is observed in three other Malay-majority polling districts - Simpang Balak (69.39 percent Malays), Desa Baiduri (66.79 percent Malays) and Cheras Jaya (65.05 percent Malays).

Harapan won 69.99 percent (+18.98 percent) of the votes in Simpang Balak, 75.66 percent (+22.78 percent) of the votes in Desa Baiduri and 73.58 percent (+18.47 percent) in Cheras Jaya.

In contrast, MCA won 30.01 percent (+4.53 percent) in Simpang Balak, 24.34 percent (+4.05 percent) in Desa Baiduri and 26.42 percent (+11.03 percent) in Cheras Jaya.

MCA's improvement in the Malay polling districts was marginal compared to Harapan. This would suggest that PAS' endorsement of MCA's candidate was ineffective.

For record, PAS won 23.51 percent of the votes in Simpang Balak, 26.83 percent in of the votes in Desa Baiduri and 29.5 percent of the votes in Cheras Jaya during the last general election.

Apart from PAS unwillingness to back BN, MCA's decision to use its own logo - which many Malay voters found unfamiliar, according to Malaysiakini's strawpoll - may have also played a factor.

It should also be noted that Harapan's improvement in these areas may have been accentuated by the fact that many Malay voters decided to stay home.

The turnout in the four Malay majority polling districts was below the average of 43 percent.

In Bandar Tun Hussein Onn, the turnout was 29 percent while it was 27.24 percent in Simpang Balak, 29.30 percent in  Desa Baiduri and 34.25 percent in Cheras Jaya.

Meanwhile, in SERI SETIA, PAS was able to capture the bulk of advance voting votes, postal votes and a polling district, all of which were won by BN in GE14.

In addition, PAS was also successful in wresting the Malay-majority polling district of SS6, which was won by Harapan during GE14. 

Harapan man believes weather affected turnout

10.00pm - Seri Setia - Newly minted Seri Setia lawmaker Halimey Abu Bakar believes that the long weekend and bad weather led to the low turnout. 

Turnout for today's by-election was 44.1 percent.

"I was expecting the turnout to be 60 percent. Eventually, the turnout only 44 percent. 

"We were worried about the long holiday... The long holiday and the bad weather," he told reporters at the official tally centre in Petaling Jaya.

Halimey was accompanied by his mother Khalijah Md Yusof and wife Suhaty Bakri. 

Guan Eng: Voters rejected race-based party

9.10pm - Balakong - At a press conference, newly minted Balakong assemblyperson Wong Siew Ki promises to work hard and not let voters down. 

"This is only the beginning," she says.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng notes that the party's share of the votes has increased and attributes to this to the work put in by former Balakong assemblyperson Eddie Ng. 

He adds that Wong's victory also proves that voters prefer multi-racial parties to race-based parties.

On the low turnout rate, Lim attributes to political fatigue and that most voters believe Harapan's victory was guaranteed.

MCA 'glad' with performance

9.05pm - Balakong - MCA campaign director Chew Mei Fun is glad with her party's performance. 

"Although we are at a low point, we fought the best we could. We were glad with our overall performance.

"We didn't lose our deposit and our vote share improved," she said. 

She thanks volunteers and party members for working hard to help the party improve on its performance. 

Party workers around her and MCA candidate Tan Chee Teong (photo above) seems generally happy with the results. 

In a statement, Tan says he will continue to play a check-and-balance role despite not being elected because it is important for a healthy democracy.

OFFICIAL: Harapan retains Seri Setia

9.00pm - Seri Setia - The Election Commission formally announces that Pakatan Harapan has retained Seri Setia.

According to the returning officer, Harapan's Halimey Abu Bakar received 13,725 votes while PAS' Dr Halimah Ali's polled 9,698 votes.

This translated a vote-majority of 4,027. There were also 164 spoilt votes.

OFFICIAL: Harapan wins Balakong

8.55pm - Balakong-  The Election Commission formally announces Pakatan Harapan's victory in Balakong.

According to the returning officer, Harapan's Wong Siew Ki polled 22,508 votes to MCA's Tan Chee Teong's 3,975 votes. There were 227 spoilt votes.

Halimah not at tally centre

8.45pm - Seri Setia - The PAS election headquarters is deserted after it is clear that the party's candidate Dr Halimah Ali had lost.

Efforts to establish Halimah's whereabouts is unsuccessful. She is not at the Petaling Jaya City Council where the official vote tally is taking place either. 

Malaysiakini understands that PAS will issue a statement once the official results are announced.

At a glance: BN supporters likely to back PAS, but not necessarily the other way round

8.30pm - ANALYSIS - Due to the low turnout, a majority - the vote difference between the winner and runner up - is not a reliable measure for the Seri Setia and Balakong by-elections.

The turnout in Seri Setia was estimated at 44 percent (84.4 percent during GE14) and 43 percent for Balakong (88.2 percent during GE14).

A more reliable measure is the share of votes. 

For BALAKONG, preliminary data suggested that although Pakatan Harapan won by a landslide during the last general election, the coalition was able to win a bigger share of the votes today.

Harapan's vote share today was estimated to be 84.99 percent, up from 77.53 percent during GE14, an increase of about seven percent.

However, MCA's share also improved. The party secured approximately 15.01 percent of the vote share, up from 10.9 percent during GE14, an increase of about 4 percent.

The uptick in vote share for both parties could be due to the fact that PAS took a 11.56 percent share of the votes during GE14. 

Although PAS had endorsed MCA's candidate, there is currently insufficient evidence at this point to suggest that their supporters voted for MCA.

Over at SERI SETIA, PAS appears to have benefitted from its alliance with BN. 

During GE14, BN had secured the majority of advance and postal voters, while securing the majority in a particular voting district. From the unofficial results, it would appear that these voters are now backing PAS.

PAS dramatically increases its share of the votes to 41.28 percent, up from 10.38 percent during GE14. 

This is even more than the 32.89 percent of the vote share secured by both PAS and BN during GE14. 

Meanwhile, Harapan's vote share was at 58.72 percent, down from 66.62 percent during GE14. 

MCA candidate concedes defeat

8.00pm - Balakong - MCA's Tan Chee Teong congratulates DAP's Wong Siew Ki on her victory.

"I congratulate her. It's an honour to fight her. My community is under her care. I will refer any local issues to her later."

UNOFFICIAL: Harapan retains Seri Setia amidst better showing from PAS

7.35pm - Seri Setia -  Malaysiakini is calling the Seri Setia by-election for Pakatan Harapan as the coalition has crossed the threshold for victory.

According to Malaysiakini's estimate based on the Election Commission's announced turnout of 44 percent, the threshold for victory is around 11,768 votes.

At the time of writing, Harapan has garnered 12,525 votes to PAS' 8,804 votes.

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PAS-Umno alliance paying off

7.30pm - Seri Setia - PAS' alliance with Umno appears to have worked. PAS won the PJS5/13-PJS5/30 polling district by a landslide. This was the only polling district won by BN during the May 9 general election.

According to the unofficial tally, PAS received 618 votes (69.20 percent) to Harapan's 275 votes (30.8 percent) in that polling district.

In the last general election, PAS only obtained 14.11 percent of the votes there while 45.98 percent went to BN and 39.64 percent  to Harapan.

PAS, which did not win any polling district in Seri Setia in the last general election, has thus far picked up two. The other was the polling district of SS6 which was won by Harapan in the last general election.

There are a total of 20 polling districts in Seri Setia.

MCA keeps its deposit

7.25pm - Balakong - MCA looks set to keep its deposit despite an imminent crushing defeat.

Based on a turnout of 43 percent, Malaysiakini estimates that MCA needs to win at least 3,344 votes to retain its deposit.

At the time of writing, MCA has unofficially secured 3,591 votes against Harapan's 20,403 votes. There are less than 3,000 votes left to be tabulated.

MCA lost its deposit in the last general election after failing to win at least one-eighth of the votes.

Quiet on the MCA front

7.20pm - Balakong - It's rather quiet at the MCA command centre. Many of the party counting agents are bringing back copies of the tally sheet to be counted. 

Many of them are expressionless. One party worker told Malaysiakini that he was optimistic that the party will retain their deposit this time round. 

PAS snatches one polling district from Harapan

7.15pm - Seri Setia - A polling district won by Harapan during the May 9 election has switched hands to PAS. 

According to unofficial results, PAS won the SS6 polling district by winning 340 votes (54.05 percent) against Harapan's 289 votes (45.95 percent).

PAS did not win in any of the 20 polling districts during the May 9 elections. 

Previously, Harapan captured SS6 with 58.19 percent of the votes cast, where their winning margin was the second lowest. 

The lowest-winning margin during the May 9 polls was in a polling district called Rumah Pangsa Sungai Way, which Harapan managed to retain this time round, albeit with a lower percentage. 

PAS candidate waiting for a sign

6.57pm - Seri Setia - PAS's candidate Dr Halimah Ali attends a wedding earlier today before heading to the party's campaign headquarters in Shah Alam. 

PAS campaign manager Mohd Fauzan Madzlan says Halimah will show up at the official Election Commission tally centre in Petaling Jaya if there are indications that she will win. 

According to the unofficial vote count, PAS is trailing behind Harapan, but not by a wide margin. 

UNOFFICIAL: Harapan retains Balakong

6.55pm - Balakong - Malaysiakini is calling the Balakong by-election for Harapan. The coalition has passed the threshold for victory.

At the time of writing, unofficial results show that Harapan has garnered 15,269 votes to MCA's 2,289 votes.

According to the Election Commission, the final turnout for Balakong is 43 percent. The total number of eligible voters is 62,219.

This means DAP has already won more than half of the estimated 26,754 votes cast.

With only around 11,000 votes left uncounted, it will be impossible for MCA to catch up even if it wins all the remaining votes.

It's looking grim for MCA

6.45pm - Balakong - Harapan is sailing ahead in Balakong and is nearing the threshold to claim victory with MCA trailing far behind.

At the time of writing, unofficial results show Harapan has garnered 11,455 votes to MCA's 1,834 votes.

MCA will need to win approximately 3,500 votes to keep its deposit.

In the last general election, MCA's candidate lost its deposit after winning only 5,874 votes to Harapan's 41,768 votes while PAS received 6,230 votes.

A candidate must win at least one-eighth of the total votes cast to keep their deposit.

Harapan takes slight lead against PAS

6.20pm - Seri Setia - Harapan is taking an early lead in the Seri Setia by-election vote count.

However, PAS is giving a run for Harapan's money despite the coalition winning by a landslide during the May 9 election.

So far, the unofficial vote count has put Harapan at 3,235 votes while PAS has 2,044 votes.

Meanwhile, in Balakong, the counting process is still rather slow, but Harapan has a huge lead over MCA. According to the unofficial count, Harapan has 5,560 votes while MCA only has 876.

MCA leaders gather at command centre

6.05pm - Balakong - MCA candidate Tan Chee Teong is in his party's election command centre. He looks happy and is shaking hands with some supporters. 

Party leaders such as deputy president Wee Ka Siong and central committee member Ti Lian Ker are also present. 

Complete swing for advance voters

6.00pm - Balakong - In a complete reversal from the 14th general election, Pakatan Harapan has swept the bulk of advance votes.

Harapan won 25 out of the 27 advance votes, or 92.59 percent while MCA received two.

This was in stark contrast to the 14th general election results, in which DAP only received a meagre 3.7 percent of advance votes, or one out of 27, while MCA received 21 votes and PAS five.

Most advance voters comprise of civil servants who have to be on duty during polling day.

Turnout: New record low likely

5.30pm - Polls for the Seri Setia and Balakong by-elections have closed.

According to preliminary data,  both by-elections will likely see one of the lowest turnouts in history, possibly even lower the recently concluded Sungai Kandis by-election which saw a final turnout of 49.4 percent.

According to the Election Commission, as of 4pm - 90 minutes before the polls closed -  the turnout for the Balakong by-election was 39 percent while the turnout for the Seri Setia by-election was 41 percent.

For comparison, the turnout for Sungai Kandis was 45 percent as of 4pm on Aug 4.

During the May 9 elections, the final turnout for Seri Setia was 84.4 percent, while it was 88.2 percent for Balakong.

Apart from political fatigue, the turnout in both by-elections today was also hampered by rain and a long weekend, which may encourage some families to go on holiday.