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First votes cast ahead of Australia's July 2 federal election

Xinhua, June 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

The first votes in Australia's federal election have been cast after early-voting centers opened on Tuesday.

The election is to be held on July 2 but Australians are allowed to make use of early voting centers if they are travelling at the time of the election, working, seriously ill, hospitalized, more than 8 km from a polling station, have a reasonable fear for their safety or are restricted by voting on July 2 by religious beliefs. Voting is compulsory in Australia.

The number of eligible voters making use of early voting could exceed 4 million, if trends over recent elections are a reliable guide.

More than 3.7 million Australians, representing 27 percent of all voters, voted early in the 2013 election compared to 2.3 million people, or 18 percent of voters, in 2010.

Dan Tehan, a Member of Parliament for the Liberal Party in the western Victorian seat of Wannon, said political parties have recently adjusted election tactics to account for early voters.

"Obviously as a Government we've got to be ready and we've got to make sure that people understand the choice they're making from today on," Tehan told the ABC.

"If you're getting basically a third of people voting before election day, you want to make sure your policies are out nice and early so people have the chance to have a good long hard look."

A number of polls have suggested that the election will be a tight race with News Limited's Newspoll predicting Malcolm Turnbull's Liberal Government will retain power over Bill Shorten's Labor Party, despite support for each party locked at 50 percent. Endit