EC: Kimanis poll on Jan 18
PUTRAJAYA, Dec 16 — Political parties will kick off 2020 with the Kimanis parliamentary seat by-election, set for January 18.
The Election Commission announced the date this afternoon, and has set a two-week campaign period. Nomination will be on January 4.
The EC said polling time for the Kimanis by-election will begin earlier, from 7.30am to 5pm, and increased the number of voting streams.
EC chairman Datuk Azhar Harun said the poll will cost some RM3 million.
The Election Court declared the parliamentary seat vacant on December 2 in agreement with the 2018 election petition filed by Parti Warisan Sabah candidate Datuk Karim Bujang who claimed discrepancies during the voting process.
The Federal Court upheld the Election Court’s decision on December 9.
Kimanis on the west coast of Sabah, about two hours’ drive from Kota Kinabalu, covers two state constituencies: Membakut and Bongawan.
Its former MP Datuk Seri Anifah Aman had contested and won the seat for years under Umno, until GE14, when he defeated his closest rival from Warisan by just a hundred over votes.
Anifah, the former foreign minister under the previous administration, quit Umno to become independent shortly after Barisan Nasional lost the 2018 general election.
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