Malaysians are voting in what is expected to be the closest election in the 61 years since the country's independence from Britain. Incumbent Prime Minister Najib Razak, ruling party UMNO and the Barisan Nasional alliance face a stiff challenge from the man who led UMNO, BN and the country for 22 years, Mahathir Mohamad. He heads a diverse opposition alliance that includes ethnic-Malay nationalists, Chinese social democrats, and moderate Islamists. And as Rian Maelzer reports, it looks as if everything will hinge on how Malays, especially those in rural areas, vote.

RIAN MAELZER KUALA LUMPUR "More than 14 million Malaysians are registered to cast their ballots in the country's 14th general election, with vast queues of people snaking around the polling stations from first thing in the morning."

"I wanted a change in the country, especially I think with our current government won't be going anywhere in future, especially if we want to make it to a first world country."

"Because I love this country, I think we deserve a government that is there for the betterment of all of us, so a good change for the positive is what we need."

The leaders of the two main alliances made their final pitches to voters Tuesday night, Najib Razak via TV stations, Mahathir via Facebook and YouTube livestream. Najib stressed his record of overseeing strong economic growth, and asked for the chance to continue moving Malaysia toward being a high-income country, while promising last-minute goodies like exempting people under-26 from paying income tax. Mahathir said Najib's rule has been disastrous. He said his alliance would restore rule of law and Malaysia's international reputation tainted by the 1MDB corruption scandal.

The opposition are again likely to win the vast majority of votes from ethnic Chinese, who make up about a quarter of the population. The key will be how much Mahathir's appeal does to win support of ethnic Malays, especially in rural areas.

KEITH LEONG POLITICAL ANALYST, KRA GROUP "The turnout, at least in the urban areas, has been immense. The usual conventional wisdom is that usually favours the opposition, but let's see. Recent polls have suggested that it will be really close but that Barisan will win narrowly."

RIAN MAELZER KUALA LUMPUR "Analysts and pollsters suggest that under the UK-style first-past-the-post system that the opposition alliance could well win a majority of the votes at it did in 2013 but still not win a majority of the seats in parliament or be able to form the next government. Rian Maelzer, CGTN, Kuala Lumpur."