PULAI, Sept 9 — Pakatan Harapan has won the Simpang Jeram state by-election, according to the unofficial vote tally.

As of 8.15pm, the unofficial count gave the ruling coalition 12,674 votes to put it into a position unassailable by Perikatan Nasional that was in second place.

For the concurrent Pulai federal by-election, PH has also secured over 22,000 votes or more than double the votes managed so far by PN.

Earlier today, PH had appeared to be in severe danger after the turnout for Pulai and Simpang Jeram only reached 42 per cent and 56 per cent at 4pm, respectively.

Both independent candidates in the by-elections are set to lose their deposits.

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

In Pulai, Suhaizan Kaiat is defending the parliamentary seat for PH against challengers Zulkifli Jaafar from 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 their incumbent, the late Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub who was also domestic trade and living cost minister.

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