Voters lined up in front of a polling station in North Melbourne gave a few bends and the smell of democratic sausages raged. (ABC News: Peter Pei)
The election officially began at 8: 00 a.m. local time, and long lines were lined up in front of the polling stations, and democratic sausages warmed the cold morning.
But not all registered voters voted today. According to the final statistics of the Election Commission, 4.76 million Australians voted early this year, compared with 700000 yesterday alone. Compared with the federal election three years ago in 2016, 3.2 million people voted early.
An additional 1.4 million people applied for a mail vote this year. That means 37% of voters voted before today`s election day officially began.
The two protagonists in the race made their last fight today after five weeks of "fierce battle". Opposition party Labour leader Bill Shorton ran six kilometers in Melbourne`s piercing cold wind early in the morning to greet election day. Prime Minister Morrison has arrived in Tasmania and has not yet made a public appearance.
With the cold wind in Melbourne this morning, Shawton has run six kilometers to welcome election day. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
