JOHOR BAHRU, July 7 — More than half of the early voters in Johor’s 16th state election, comprising security personnel, had cast their ballots by 11am today.

The Election Commission (EC) said in a Facebook post that 56.32 per cent, or 11,605 of the 20,607 early voters, had voted.

Of that total, 6,852 of the 12,063 Royal Malaysia Police and General Operations Force personnel and their spouses had cast their ballots, along with 4,753 of the 8,544 Malaysian Armed Forces personnel and their spouses.

A total of 64 polling centres opened at 8am for the registered voters to cast their votes.

All polling centres will close progressively between noon and 6pm today, depending on location and voter numbers.

A total of 172 candidates are vying for 56 state assembly seats in the Johor polls, with some 2.7 million voters set to cast their ballots this Saturday.

For the latest updates on the 16th Johor state election, visit https://prn.bernama.com/johor. — Bernama