2018 Seri Setia by-election

2018 Seri Setia by-election
N32 Seri Setia seat in the Selangor State Legislative Assembly
Seri Setia assemblyman before election; Shaharuddin Badaruddin (died); Pakatan Harapan (PKR)	Elected Seri Setia assemblyman ; Halimey Abu Bakar; Pakatan Harapan (PKR)

A by-election was held on 8 September 2018 for the Selangor State Legislative Assembly seat of Seri Setia.^[1] The seat became vacant after the sudden death of the incumbent assemblyman and Selangor state executive councillor, Shaharuddin Badaruddin on 2 August 2018 from colon cancer.^[2] Shaharuddin was a member of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat or People's Justice Party (PKR), a component party of the state ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition. This was the third by-election for the Selangor State Assembly since the 2018 general election, after the Sungai Kandis and Balakong by-elections. Shaharuddin won the seat with a majority of 19,372 votes, defeating BN's Yusoff M Haniff, PAS's Mohd Ghazali Daud and independent S Vigneswaran.^[3] This by-election was held on the same day as the Balakong by-election.^[1] The nomination day was on 18 August 2018, with a 21-day campaigning period until election day.^[1]

The by-election saw a straight fight between Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Halimey Abu Bakar from the PKR and Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) candidate Halimah Ali. In opposite to the Sungai Kandis and Balakong by-elections, the Barisan Nasional (BN) decided not to contest in Seri Setia. This was widely regarded as a sign of cooperation between PAS and BN, designed to ensure there is only a single opposition candidate for each by-election.^[4]

N32 Seri Setia state constituency border and the districts included within the constituency.

Campaign

The by-election campaign largely focused on bread and butter issues, such as local development and the introduction of a new sales tax replacing the GST.^[5]^[6]

A case of negative campaigning marred the final days of campaign. The PAS candidate Halimah claimed that Seri Setia was too "intelligent" to vote for "local boy with an outdated mentality", insinuating about her opponent's poor origins. These remarks were criticised by the PH camp.^[7]

Result

PKR's Halimey Abu Bakar, got 13,725 votes, defeating PAS’ Dr Halimah Ali who got 9,698, getting a majority of 4,027 votes thus retaining the seat for PKR and Pakatan Harapan.^[8] PAS significantly increased its share of vote, which was credited to the fact BN not contesting the seat.^[9]

Selangor state by-election, 8 September 2018: Seri Setia
Upon the death of incumbent, Shaharuddin Badaruddin
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	PH	Halimey Abu Bakar	13,725	58.60	- 8.02
	PAS	Halimah Ali	9,698	41.40	+ 31.01
Total valid votes			23,423	100.00
Total rejected ballots			164	0.69	- 0.23
Unreturned ballots			28
Turnout			23,615	44.15	- 40.29
Registered electors			53,492
Majority			4,027	17.20	- 26.92
	PH hold		Swing		- 19.52
Source(s) "Federal Government Gazette - Notice of Contested Election - By-election of the State Legislative Assembly of N.32 Seri Setia for the State of Selangor [P.U. (B) 499/2018]" (PDF). Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia. 20 August 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-19.^{[permanent dead link]} "Federal Government Gazette - Results of Contested Election and Statement of the Poll after the Official Addition of Votes for the By-election of N.32 Seri Setia [P.U. (B) 523/2018]" (PDF). Attorney General's Chambers of Malaysia. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-19.^{[permanent dead link]}

Results according to polling districts

Voting District Code	Voting District	Party
105/32/01	Glenmarie	PH
105/32/02	SS6	PAS
105/32/03	SS5D	PH
105/32/04	SS5A	PH
105/32/05	Seri Setia	PH
105/32/06	PJS5 Kampung Penaga	PH
105/32/07	PJS6/4-6/6	PH
105/32/08	PJS10/1-PJS10/6	PH
105/32/09	Rumah Pangsa Sungai Way	PH
105/32/10	PJS5/1-PJS5/12	PH
105/32/11	PJS6/1-6/3	PH
105/32/12	PJS8	PH
105/32/13	PJS10/17-PJS10/34	PH
105/32/14	SS7	PH
105/32/15	Kampung Lindungan	PH
105/32/16	PJS5/13-PJS5/30	PAS
105/32/17	Taman TTDI Jaya	PH
105/32/18	Ara Damansara	PH
105/32/19	Taman Glenmarie	PH

Voting District Code	Voting District	Party
	Post Vote	PAS
105/32/00	Early Vote	PAS

Previous result

2018 Selangor state election: Seri Setia
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	PH (PKR)	Shaharuddin Badaruddin	29,250	66.62	9.49
	BN	Yusoff M Haniff	9,878	22.50	20.37
	PAS	Mohd Ghazali Daud	4,563	10.39	N/A
	Independent	Vigweswaran T Subramaniam	217	0.49	N/A
Rejected ballots			411	0.92	0.66
Majority			19,372	44.12	29.86
Turnout			44,457	84.44	0.21
Registered electors			52,650
	PKR hold		Swing	14.93