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Ramkarpal Singh Deo has won the Bukit Gelugor by-election by a comfortable margin
GEORGE TOWN: Unofficial results showed that Ramkarpal Singh Deo of DAP has won the Bukit Gelugor by-election by leading the race with 24,964 from 29, 296 votes counted so far.
The 38-year-old electoral debutant now leads by 21,788-vote majority over second placed Huan Cheng Guan from Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM), who has garnered 3,176 votes.
With unofficial voter turnout estimated at 56% or 46,161, Ramkarpal has crossed the halfway mark with his votes to win the four-cornered battle to succeed his father, the late Karpal Singh as Bukit Gelugor only other MP.
Bukit Gelugor has 82,431 voters comprising 61,267 (74.33%) Chinese, 11,913 (14.46%) Malays, 8,848 (10.73%) Indians and 403 (0.49%) others.
Huan, 53, needs 12% of cast ballots or 5,539 votes to safe his deposit.
With results of 16,865 votes yet to be out, Huan believes he can crawl over the desired vote margin to achieve his electoral goal.
This will be second straight parliamentary contest defeat for Huan, having lost in Batu Kawan in 2013 general election.
Independent candidates Nabi Bux Mohamed Abd Sathar received 930 votes so far while fourth place Abu Backer 226.
Both looks set to lose their election deposit of RM10,000 each.
Polling was held in 17 polling stations today.
The schools are national schools of SMK Air Itam and SK Seri Relau, and SJK (C) Kong Min (2) (all under Paya Terubong state seat); SK Seri Aman, SK Seri Indah, SK Ayer Itam, SMK George Town, SMK Chung Ling, SM Chung Ling Private, SJK (C) Kong Min (1), SJK (C) Chiao Nan (all under Air Itam); and, SK Batu Lanchang, SK Bukit Gelugor, SK Sungai Gelugor, SMK Hamid Khan, SMK Haji Mohd Nor Ahmad and SMJK Chung Hwa Confusion (under Seri Delima).
Bukit Gelugor by-election was held following the tragic death of incumbent DAP MP Karpal in a fatal highway accident near Kampar, Perak on April 17.
This time the DAP did not face a Barisan Nasional candidate from MCA, which has opted out from contest.
Some 148 early voters have already cast their votes in four stations last Wednesday.
But, after 13 days campaigning, Ramkarpal’s worst fear was confirmed as voters’ turnout was low.
He now succeeds his late father as Bukit Gelugor MP, albeit low majority.
The late Karpal polled 55,839 votes to score a majority victory of 41,778 votes against BN candidate Teh Beng Yeam, who garnered 14,061 votes in the 13th General Election.
However, a consolation for Ramkarpal is that he had managed to keep Bukit Gelugor federal seat as his family fiefdom.
Since Bukit Gelugor was elevated from a state to federal constituency prior to 2004 general election, Karpal has been its only other parliamentarian until his death.
Now Ramkarpal is set to continue his father’s legacy.
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