ROMPIN (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Polls for the Rompin by-election opened at 8am on Tuesday.

In Kuala Rompin, voters could be seen lining up outside the polling centres early morning as the state government declared a special holiday in conjunction with the polls.

The by-election will see a straight fight between ruling Barisan Nasional's Datuk Hasan Arifin and Nazri Ahmad of the opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS).

Polls will close at 5pm.

Rompin in Pahang is a traditional stronghold of Barisan Nasional (BN).

The parliamentary seat fell vacant after the incumbent of 23 years Tan Sri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis was killed in a helicopter crash along with five others on April 4 near Semenyih.

In the 2013 general election, Jamaluddin retained the seat by beating former Wanita PAS chief Nuridah Mohd Salleh with a majority of 15,114 votes.

The by-election is the ninth to be called since the 13th general election in May 2013.

The constituency has 53,294 registered voters, comprising 52,744 ordinary voters, 545 early voters and five absentee voters.