Johor twin by-elections: Voter turnout rises to 24pc for Pulai, 33pc for Simpang Jeram at noon (VIDEO)

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 — Voter turnout for Johor’s twin by-elections in Pulai and Simpang Jeram have increased to 24 per cent and 33 per cent respectively at 12 noon, the Election Commission said today.

The morning turnout at 10am, two hours after polling centres opened, had been at 13 per cent and 18 per cent for the parliamentary seat and the Johor state seat, likely due to the inclement weather at that time.

The skies had been overcast, with rain in certain areas when polling centres opened at 8am.

Polling centres will close at 6pm today.

There are 47 polling centres with 294 streams in the Pulai parliamentary constituency while the Simpang Jeram state seat has 14 centres with 68 streams.

The Meteorological Department has predicted thunderstorms from morning until evening in both constituencies; Pulai is within Johor Baru while the Simpang Jeram state seat is within Muar.

Pulai has a total of 166,653 registered while Simpang Jeram has 40,379 registered voters.

Each seat will see a three-cornered fight involving Pakatan Harapan, Perikatan Nasional, and an independent.

For Pulai, Suhaizan Kaiat is defending the parliamentary seat for Pakatan Harapan (PH) against challengers Zulkifli Jaafar from Perikatan Nasional (PN) and independent Samsudin Mohamad Fauzi.

For Simpang Jeram, the candidates are Nazri Abdul Rahman (PH), Mohd Mazri Yahya (PN), and independent S. Jegananthan.

The twin by-elections were called following the July 23 death of its elected representative Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub, who was also domestic trade and living cost minister.

He was also elected to the Simpang Jeram state seat.

People queue up to cast their ballots at the Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Melati polling station in Johor Baru September 9, 2023. ― Picture by Shafwan Zaidon