CANBERRA - Polls have opened on Australia's general election day, with millions of voters expected to cast their ballots to decide the composition of the 48th federal parliament.

More than 7,000 polling places operated by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) opened across Australia at 8 am AEST on Saturday (2200 GMT on Friday) and will stay open until 6 pm AWST (1000 GMT) when AEC staff will begin counting votes.

The governing center-left Labor Party - led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese - is seeking a second term in power, while the opposition conservative Coalition - led by Peter Dutton - is aiming to return to government having recently held power from 1996-2007 and again from 2013-2022.

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Voting is mandatory for over 18 million Australian citizens aged 18 and over who are registered on the AEC's electoral roll. According to the AEC, a record-high 5.67 million people had voted at early voting centers as of Thursday and an additional 1.52 million had returned postal ballots.

In addition to the thousands of polling places in Australia, the AEC is also operating 111 overseas voting centers across 83 countries - more than at any previous election.