PHNOM PENH, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The voter turnout in Cambodia's sixth general election on Sunday was recorded at 80.49 percent, said Sik Bun Hok, chairman of the National Election Committee (NEC).

Polls opened at 7:00 a.m. local time and closed at 3:00 p.m. at all 22,967 polling stations across the kingdom, he said.

"Some 6,744,893, or 80.49 percent, of the 8,380,217 eligible voters cast their ballots in the election," he said at a press conference here. "This is the success of our election."

The voter turnout was much higher than that in the 2013 election when the voter turnout was at 69.61 percent.

Speaking about the situation during the election, Bun Hok said, "The election were conducted normally, there was no any disturbance, safety and security were good, and people voted with pleasure."

The preliminary results are expected on Sunday evening, as the provisional results will be released on Aug. 11, and the official ones will be publicized on Aug. 15, according to a NEC timetable.

A total of 20 political parties contested in the election, which was held to elect 125 lawmakers for the National Assembly.

Among them are the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, the Funcinpec Party of Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the League for Democracy Party of former opposition lawmaker Khem Veasna.

The Southeast Asian country holds a general election once every five years.