Canberra, May 3 (UNI) Australians will head to the polls on Saturday to elect the new convocation of the federal parliament and determine who the next prime minister will be.

Australia has a preferential voting system, which means voters will need to rank all the candidates on the ballot according to their preference.

Over 300 candidates from about three dozen political parties and groups will contend for all 150 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 of the 76 seats in the Senate. Early voting and remote voting started on April 22.

As usual, the elections are expected to be a showdown between the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal-National Coalition.

A tight race is expected between incumbent Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Coalition leader Peter Dutton, as the Labor leader has lost some popular support due to the recent cost-of-living crisis and housing shortages in the country.

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