JOHOR BAHRU, July 11 — More than 1.31 million voters, or 48.91 per cent of the electorate, had cast their ballots by 2pm today in the 16th Johor state election, according to the Election Commission (EC).

The EC said the turnout figure was recorded as polling continued across 1,076 polling centres involving 4,889 polling streams throughout the state.

The Johor state election involves more than 2.6 million registered voters who are choosing representatives for 56 State Legislative Assembly seats contested by 172 candidates.

Earlier, the EC reported that 1,130,980 voters, or 42.16 per cent of the electorate, had cast their ballots as of 1pm.

The Semarang and Sedili state constituencies recorded the highest voter turnout at 50.5 per cent each at 1pm, followed by Tanjung Surat at 48.6 per cent.

Polling will continue until 6pm today, after which vote counting will begin, with results expected to be announced later tonight.