Amidst twin losses, PN closes the gap

While Pakatan Harapan managed to win big in both the Pulai and Simpang Jeram by-elections, it was not a victory to take comfort in.

Despite soundly beating Perikatan Nasional, the opposition coalition was still able to make considerable gains.

PN won 10,330 votes in Simpang Jeram, which was a 62.7 percent increase when compared to the Johor legislative assembly election in March 2022.

The situation was similar for Pulai - where PN won 29,642 votes - a 43.4 percent increase compared to the last Parliamentary election in Nov 2022.

Notably, the actual number of voters that backed PN also increased by almost 9,000.

What made PN's performance in Pulai more significant was the dismal turnout of around 47 percent, compared to 70 percent in 2022.

This likely indicates that PN had managed to swing some votes either from Harapan or BN.

However, a proper analysis of a swing can only be made once the Election Commission releases the granular voting data.

Turnout for the Pulai by-election was hampered by bad weather. Skies were very cloudy throughout the day and there was eventually heavy downpour in the afternoon.

Moreover, a significant number of young Pulai voters - who tend to be more PN-leaning - are believed to be residing in Singapore and may not have returned to vote due to bad weather and were less motivated to vote due to the perceived unimportance of the by-election. - Mkini