TAPAH, April 26 — Voting in the Ayer Kuning state by-election in Perak officially ended at 6pm today with the closure of all 19 voting centres.

The counting of ballots at Dewan Merdeka here has also started and Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Dr Mohamad Yusri Bakir is currently in pole position in the three-cornered fight with 557 votes.

The other two contenders are Abd Muhaimin Malek from Perikatan Nasional (PN) with 149 votes and Bawani KS from Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) with 27 votes.

The official results of the by-election are expected to be announced by the Election Commission (EC) at about 9pm due to the low voter turnout.

The EC announced at 54.01 per cent, just over half of the 31,281 registered voters had cast their ballots as at 4pm.

The Ayer Kuning by-election was called after its assemblyman Ishsam Shahruddin from BN died of a heart attack on February 22.