It is a Malay-majority constituency. The racial breakdown puts the Malays at 69.4 per cent, Chinese at 24.5 per cent, Indians at six per cent and others, at 0.1 per cent.
When the seat was vacated on July 31 by the incumbent, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail, PKR's president, the by-election was initially thought to be a mere formality for her husband, Anwar, to launch his re-entry into Parliament.
Anwar accompanied by Wan Azizah casting his voteat Sk Sri Penanti.
Anwar, dressed in a blue shirt and songkok, and Dr Wan Azizah arrived at Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Penanti at 9.40am to cast their votes and left 10 minutes later.
Arif Shah kisses his hand after casting his vote at SK Seberang Jaya 2
The by-election is a three-corner fight among Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, 61, Barisan Nasional's (BN) Datuk Arif Shah Omar Shah, 51, and Hanafi Mamat, 61, of Angkatan Keadilan Insan Malaysia.
Police detained a 22-year-old man from Jalan Mengkuang, Butterworth for obstructing a public officer from discharging his duties near a polling centre here.
UPDATE: 10PM
BN has declared defeat in a by-election against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim who will return to parliament after a decade-long absence.
Anwar got 31,195 votes, Arif Shah, 15,524, Hanafi, 92. Anwar won with a majority of 15,671. Anwar's wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, won the seat with a 13,388 majority at the March 8 general election.
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