KOTA KINABALU, Sept 27  -- The 16th Sabah state election recorded a voter turnout of 66.61 per cent.

Election Commission (EC) chairman Datuk Abdul Ghani Salleh said the percentage comprised 749,083 voters who had cast their ballots in the contest for 73 state seats.

He said the turnout was a good achievement despite the state being hit by the  COVID-19 pandemic, with red zones in Lahad Datu, Tawau and Sandakan.

“(However), 66.61 per cent is a good achievement, thank you Sabahans, for despite facing a pandemic, they have fulfilled their responsibility as voters,” he said in a media conference here today. 

“Although at the initial stage we targeted 75 percent, we then saw cases increasing and we lowered to  the target to 70 percent,” he said.

Meanwhile, Abdul Ghani said on the whole, the EC was satisfied with the Sabah election voting process.

He said no untoward incidents occurred throughout the election and the EC will work on weaknesses and improve operations. 

“Generally the vote counting process went on smoothly except for a little delay in announcements as data to some centres and channels arrived late, and at 11pm our system was down for 25 minutes but there was quick recovery,” he said.

 --BERNAMA