Johor twin by-elections: Voter turnout up to 42pc for Pulai, 56pc for Simpang Jeram at 4pm

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 — The voter turnout for the Pulai parliamentary by-election in Johor at 4pm today was 42 per cent, far below the projected 70 per cent expected by the Election Commission on polling day.

In comparison, the concurrent by-election for the Simpang Jeram state seat achieved a turnout of 56 per cent at the same time.

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

Polling centres for both constituencies opened simultaneously at 8am and will close at 6pm today.

A voter casts his ballot during the Pulai by state election at the Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Melati, in Johor Baru September 9, 2023. ― Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

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.

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