KOTA KINABALU, Sept 26 — With just three hours left before polling closes, some 54 per cent of the eligible voters have cast their ballots in the 16th Sabah state election as at 2 pm today, the Election Commission (EC) said.

This figure compares with the 48 per cent turnout recorded at 1pm.

A total of 2,540 channels at 741 polling centres were opened for the 73 state constituencies at 7.30 am to enable voters to pick a government for the next five years.

A total of 1,088,711 voters are eligible to vote today. — Bernama