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National

Everything you need to know about voting in the NSW election

Premier Dominic Perrottet hands out flyers to voters at a pre-polling booth in Eastwood. (AAP: Bianca De Marchi)

Millions of people across New South Wales will head to the polls tomorrow to choose the 58th parliament. 

Premier Dominic Perrottet is hoping voters will back the Coalition for a historic fourth term, while Opposition Leader Chris Minns is targeting an end to Labor's 12 years in the political wilderness. 

Nearly 640,000 people have already voted at pre-poll centres and more than 28,000 have chosen to submit postal votes. 

For those voting tomorrow, here's everything you need to know.

Where do I vote? 

There are 93 electorates in NSW — to find yours, use the NSW Electoral Commission's search tool.

There you will also find the polling booths in your area, which will be open between 8am and 6pm on Saturday. 

Most voting centres are located within schools, churches and town halls, and the commission shows which venues are wheelchair accessible. 

How do I vote? 

When you step into the voting centre, you will be given two ballot papers to complete. 

The smaller paper will be for the Legislative Assembly, also known as the lower house. 

Here you will need to put a '1' next to your preferred candidate, who will represent your electorate for four years. 

It is optional to number more squares on this paper, but if you only mark one candidate, the ballot paper will "exhaust" further preferences. 

Chris Minns (left), and Dominic Perrottet shake hands following a NSW leaders debate. (AAP: Bianca De Marchi)

If you're voting for a candidate not expected to poll strongly, the more preferences you give out the more likely your ballot paper will stay live in the count. 

The other ballot paper you will receive is much larger and is for the Legislative Council, or the upper house. 

The Legislative Council has 42 members who represent the entire state for eight-year terms. This election, 21 will be elected. 

The 2023 NSW election explained(Ashleigh Raper)

On the ballot, there is a thick horizontal line near the top. If you vote above the line you select a party, not individual candidates. 

If you vote below, you can select people from all different parties, or independents. You must number at least 15 candidates for your vote to be counted. 

What happens if I don't vote? 

Voting is compulsory for all Australian citizens over 18 in New South Wales. 

If you don't vote on Saturday, an apparent failure to vote notice will be sent in the post. 

The penalty for not voting is $55 unless you can provide a reason why you didn't vote within 28 days. 

Not knowing about the election is not a valid reason for failing to vote. 

How are votes counted? 

Once you have voted, your ballot paper will be untouched until voting closes at 6pm. 

The same applies for postal votes. 

Firstly, scrutineers will exclude any informal votes (which means the ballot wasn't filled in correctly). 

They will then be sorted according to the first preference for each candidate. 

Voting in the election is compulsory for all adults in NSW. (ABC News: Gavin Coote)

Counting will cease at 10.30pm on Saturday and there won't be any counting on Sunday. 

Any counts not completed on election night will be done on Monday, March 27. 

Antony Green on where the NSW election will be decided.

Votes for both the upper and lower house will be re-examined in the weeks after election day. 

Candidates may request a recount for a valid reason any time before the declaration of the result. 

Will there be a result on the night? 

This election is predicted to be very tight, with polls only giving Labor a narrow lead. 

It's highly likely the Coalition will lose seats rather than gain new ones. 

If neither major party gets the required 47 seats to win government, there may be a hung parliament. 

This means no party has a majority and the leader will have to negotiate with the crossbench to form a minority government. 

If this occurs, we may not have a verdict on Saturday night. 

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