JOHOR BARU, Sept 8 — Tomorrow, the Pulai parliamentary and Simpang Jeram state by-elections will take place, with 205,810 registered voters expected to participate in the electoral process.

Of the total, 165,509 voters will cast their votes for the Pulai seat, and 40,301 others for Simpang Jeram, to elect their new representative to replace the late Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub, who died on July 23.

Both by-elections will see a three-cornered fight between Pakatan Harapan (PH), Perikatan Nasional and independent candidates.

On Tuesday, 927 early voters comprising police officers and personnel fulfilled their responsibility to vote for the Pulai parliamentary by-election, but there was no early voting for Simpang Jeram.

The voting process will begin at 8am tomorrow, involving 47 polling centres and 294 streams in Pulai, and 14 centres with 68 streams in Simpang Jeram.

According to the Election Commission (EC), 2,692 personnel have been assigned to ensure the smooth electoral process in Pulai and 678 others in Simpang Jeram.

When met by reporters today, EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh said the commission was expecting the voter turnout to exceed 70 per cent.

A state and social wellbeing analyst from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai Assoc Prof Mohd Azhar Abd Hamid believed that voter turnout would determine the majority votes for the winners of both seats.

“For instance, in Pulai, which has been a stronghold for PH for two terms, a more comfortable majority could be secured if all PH and Barisan Nasional (BN) voters cast their votes tomorrow. If the PH-BN coalition wins, it will reflect the people’s support and acceptance of them,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, a check on the Malaysian Meteorological Department’s portal at 11am today found a forecast of thunderstorms in one or two areas in the Johor Bahru and Muar district from early morning to late afternoon tomorrow.

With a few hours left before the campaigning period ends at 11.59 tonight, all six candidates are making their final efforts to win over voters.

Based on their schedule, almost all contesting parties will hold their grand finale ceramah tonight, which will be attended by their respective party leaders.

In the 15th General Election, Salahuddin won the Pulai seat with a 33,174-vote majority and Simpang Pulai seat with a 2,399-vote majority. — Bernama