Thousands of voters are seen queuing up at the 7,300 polling centres which opened simultaneously nationwide at 8am today for the country's 11th general election.

The Election Commission (EC), which is tasked with the impartial management of free and fair elections, said it expected to announce the first result at about 7.30 tonight.

Polling will close at 5pm and the counting of votes is to begin at the polling stations an hour later.

According to national news agency Bernama , EC chief Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said he was confident that 80 per cent of the country's electorate would cast their votes.

"The fine weather is the key factor in drawing out the voters to the polls," he told reporters when voting in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, this morning.

EC expects 80 percent turnout

Abdul Rashid said he was confident that the voter turnout would be around 80 per cent. A total of 10.28 million people are eligible to vote in today's general election.

He said as of midnight yesterday, the EC had not receive any reports on election offences.

Up for grabs are 202 parliamentary and 493 state seats between the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition and opposition parties PAS, DAP and Keadilan.

BN has won 17 parliamentary and 12 state seats uncontested.