JERUSALEM, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Central Election Committee said that by 4 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Tuesday voter turnout in Israel's general elections for the 17th Knesset (parliament)was the lowest in the country's history, local newspaper Ha'aretz said.

    Only 39 percent of voters had cast ballots by 4 p.m. (1400 GMT), compared to 44.2 percent in 2003.

    According to the committee, just 9.9 percent of Israel's registered voters had cast their ballots by 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) and the trend has been set through the whole day.

    By noon, only 21.7 percent of voters had gone out to polls, which was the lowest turnout in Israeli history. At 2 p.m. (1200GMT), just 30.9 percent of voters had turned out, compared to 35.3 percent in 2003.

    Among the first people to vote, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert cast his ballot in a school in Jerusalem with his wife Aliza. After that, he called on the Israeli public "to go and vote".

    In order to make things better, Olmert's Kadima party Tuesday afternoon sent out hundreds of short messages (SMS) calling on citizens to head to the polls to cast their ballots.

    Polling stations, which total 8,280 across the country, will be close at 10 p.m.(2000 GMT), and the three main Israeli TV Channels are expected to release their exit polls very soon, predicting how many seats each party has won in the 120-seat Knesset.

    Before the polls, both front-runner Kadima party and the Labor Party have expressed their worries about a low turnout, particularly in light of the opinion polls in recent days.

    According to a Ha'aretz-Channel 10 survey, one-third of the country's some 5 million eligible voters did not intend to cast a ballot for the 17th Knesset. Enditem