The deadline for nominations for the parliamentary and states polls was April 20, elections commission chairman Abdul Aziz Yusof said.
Prime Minister Najib Razak, who dissolved the parliament on April 3 to pave the way for the elections, described the announcement as "exciting news."
Najib met with leaders of the 13 political parties under the ruling coalition to update them on preparations for the polls and to discuss the process of selecting candidates.
"I took the opportunity to tell them the few factors that we need to take into consideration in the division of seats and the identification of candidates, so that they understand that this is a complex and complicated process and we are unlikely to be able to fulfill the wishes of all or to satisfy every individual," he said.
Najib's National Front, which has ruled for 56 years, is expected to face its toughest challenge yet from the Anwar Ibrahim-led opposition People's Alliance coalition.
During the last general elections in 2008, the ruling party lost its two-thirds control of the parliament for the first time since it began governing the predominantly Muslim South-East Asian country in 1957.
A total of 13.26 million people were to vote for 222 parliamentary seats and 505 state assemblies seats up for grabs.