About 60 percent of the total voters in Kedah - the stage for the significant showdown between Umno and PAS - had cast their ballots by 1pm.

According to Bernama, the Election Commission (EC) said it expected more than 80 percent of the total 821,901 voters to cast their ballots by 5pm.

In the 1999 general election, the Muslim-based opposition party swept 12 of the 36 state seats. Umno took 16 and the rest fell to other BN component parties.

PAS also won eight of the 15 parliamentary seats in Kedah.

Kelantan

Meanwhile, it was reported that close to 40 percent of the 662,722 voters in the PAS-controlled Kelantan had cast their ballots by noon.

Kelantan EC officer Mohamad Yunus said most of the people who voted thus far were women.

Sunday is a working day in the state, therefore civil servants and private sector employees are expected to vote later in the afternoon.

Kelantan is the traditional stronghold of PAS and many pundits predict that the ruling front would not be able to make any significant inroads.

Of the 45 state seats, PAS won 41 and Umno managed to only take two in the 1999 election. The remaining two seats are new seats.

PAS also won 10 of the 14 parliamentary seats while its ally Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) took three, leaving Umno with a single seat.

Terengganu

In Terengganu - the state was won by PAS in the last polls - 35 percent of the 455,924 voters had cast their ballots by 11am.

Sunday is also a working day in this state and more voters were expected later in the afternoon.

In 1999, PAS won 28 of the 32 state seats while the rest went to Umno. As for the eight parliamentary seats, it was a clean sweep with PAS taking seven and Keadilan one.

However, this time around BN had expressed confidence of recapturing the state.

Pahang

In another PAS-Umno battlefield Pahang, more than 20 percent of the 570,126 voters had cast their ballots by noon.

Of the 42 state seats, Umno won 21 and PAS six. Keadilan took one while the rest fell to BN component parties.

However, the opposition failed to win any of the 14 parliamentary seats.