Harapan On Track To Win Simpang Jeram Leads In Pulai

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JOHOR BY-ELECTIONS | The high-stakes Pulai by-election was hampered by menacing skies and strong winds, discouraging voters from turning up today.
The Pulai polls will determine if Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim can have a two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat.
Another by-election is also taking place for Simpang Jeram, a Johor state legislative assembly seat.
We brings to you updates on the results as we receive them (chart updates):

Harapan on track to win Simpang Jeram, leads in Pulai
8.11pm: Based on unofficial results, Malaysiakini does not expect Perikatan Nasional to be able to overtake Pakatan Harapan in Simpang Jeram.
With 12,036 votes, Harapan is expected to cross the 50 percent threshold soon and win the state seat.
Meanwhile, Harapan is still in the lead in Pulai with 11,841 votes against 9,111 votes for PN.
Harapan crosses 10k votes in Simpang Jeram
7.50pm: Pakatan Harapan has crossed the 10,000-vote mark in Simpang Jeram according to unofficial results.
Harapan reportedly has 10,333 votes in the state seat while Perikatan Nasional has 7,839.
Over in Pulai, Harapan is maintaining a safe lead against PN, with 9,212 votes against 5,520.
Harapan maintains lead
7.35pm: The latest unofficial results have Pakatan Harapan maintaining a lead in both Pulai and Simpang Jeram.
In Pulai, Harapan has 6,031 votes while Perikatan Nasional is trailing with 3,961 votes.
Over in Simpang Jeram, Harapan is leading with 6,858 votes, while PN has 4,616 votes.
Harapan leading in Pulai
7.25pm: Early unofficial results from Pulai have Pakatan Harapan leading with 4,574 votes thus far.
Perikatan Nasional is trailing with 2,305 votes, while the independent candidate has 48 votes.
Over in Simpang Jeram, Harapan is leading with 178 votes, while PN has 95 votes thus far, and four votes for the independent candidate.
Harapan and BN gather separately in Pulai
7.15pm: Over at Pulai, Pakatan Harapan and BN will be observing the unofficial vote count in separate locations.
Harapan are expected to gather at Dataran Taman Dahlia starting at 8pm while BN supporters are gathering at Kompleks Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat.
Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi was seen earlier with the BN supporters.
Perikatan Nasional will be gathering at their campaign headquarters at Jalan Rawa, Perling. Coincidentally, their headquarters neighbours the Pulai MCA division office.
There are no such gatherings for Simpang Jeram. Both PN and Harapan candidate representatives said they will be at the official Election Commission vote tallying centre in Dewan Jubli Intan Sultan Ibrahim, Muar.
PN wins most postal votes in Simpang Jeram
7.10pm: Postal votes for Simpang Jeram have been counted by the Election Commission. The results are 61 for Perikatan Nasional, 36 for Pakatan Harapan, and none for independent candidate S Jeganathan.
There were five spoilt votes.
Dim outlook for Harapan
6.45pm: With the final turnout in Pulai expected to be below 50 percent, Pakatan Harapan is in a precarious position despite previously winning the seat with 55 percent of votes in last year’s general election.
In that same election, Perikatan Nasional bagged 26.9 percent of the votes.
Pakatan Harapan Pulai candidate Suhaizan Kaiat and wife Dr Norsham Idris votes at SK Seri Melati, Tampoi.This means if PN manages to get all its supporters in Pulai from last year to go out and vote for them again, the opposition coalition can win more than half of the votes today - allowing it to capture Pulai from Harapan.
The six state elections last month also showed that PN has been gaining ground among BN supporters, giving it an even bigger edge today.
Harapan’s best hope is that the bad weather in southern Johor today deterred just as many PN voters as it did Harapan and BN supporters.
Very low turnout
6.30pm: According to the Election Commission’s last update at 4pm, the turnout at Pulai was only 42 percent - a far cry from the 70.96 percent seen during the 15th general election last year.
The turnout at Simpang Jeram was marginally better at 56 percent.
For comparison, the turnout for the Aug 12 elections for six states averaged around 70 percent.
- Mkini

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