All 17 polling centres, which were opened at 8 am Monday for the Sungai Limau state by-election, were closed at 5 pm.

The polling centres were at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Permatang Buloh; SK Sungai Dedap; Sekolah Menengah Agama Nahdzah; SK Bukit Besar; SK Simpang Tiga Sungai Daun; Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) Aik Min; SK Haji Kassim Jasin; SK Sungai Daun Tengah; SK Sungai Limau; Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Sungai Limau.

SK Sungai Kering; SK Ulu Sedaka; SMK Batu 17, Padang Lumat; SK Padang Lumat; SJKC Pei Hwa Batu 17, Gurun; SK Dulang and SMK Dulang.

The voting process, which went smoothly at first, turned a little ugly in the afternoon when several provocations ended up with war of words between supporters of the contesting parties.

Even Bandar Baru Sentul (1C) Norsidah Abu Bakar was reported to have been punched in the eye by a PAS supporter when canvassing for votes in front of Sekolah Kebangsaan Ulu Sedaka here.

The counting of votes is expected to begin at 6 pm at the vote-counting centre at Dewan Lukman Al-Hakim, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Yan here and the official result is expected to be announced as early as 9 pm.

The contest for the Sungai Limau state seat is between Dr Ahmad Sohaimi Lazim of Barisan Nasional and Mohd Azam Abdul Samat of PAS.

The state seat fell vacant following the death of its incumbent, Tan Sri Azizan Abdul Razak, on Sept 26.