KUCHING, Dec 18 ― The Election Commission (EC) has reported an 11 per cent voter turnout in the Sarawak state election as of 9am today since the polling centres opened at 7.30am.

 A total of 1,866 polling centres, involving 3,555 channels, have been set up and, depending on the number of voters, several centres are expected to close in stages as early as noon, before the polling ends at 5pm.

The 12th state election, involving 1,213,769 ordinary voters out of 1,252,014 registered voters, will be managed by some 46,565 election officials in all 82 state seats.

On December 14, a total of 18,141 out of 20,360 registered early voters had cast their votes while 17,885 voted by post.

There will be 13 three-cornered fights; four-cornered (33); five-cornered (24); six-cornered (seven); and eight-cornered (one). There will also be four straight fights.

Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) is fielding 82 candidates for the polls, followed by Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) 73, Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) 70, Parti Keadilan Rakat (PKR) 28, DAP 26, Parti Aspirasi Rakyat Sarawak (Aspirasi) 15, Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDSB) 11, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) eight, Parti Sedar Rakyat Sarawak (Sedar) five and PAS one.

Thirty independent candidates are in the fray as well. ― Bernama