Labor is close to winning as many seats in the Victorian lower house as it did in the 2018 "Danslide" election, with the count in close seats expected to be finalised by the end of Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) finalised the distribution of preferences in a number of seats where ballot papers were entered into an electronic system.
Preference distributions are done in any seat where no candidate has the majority of first preferences, which the VEC said was more electorates this year than ever.
Most of these counts are done manually, but a computerised process occurs in close seats.
The VEC confirmed a Labor victory in Northcote on Tuesday, marking the government's 53rd seat.
Labor won 55 of the 88 lower house seats in the 2018 vote, the Liberal Party won 21 and the Nationals won six for a combined Coalition total of 27. The Greens won three seats, and three independents joined them on the crossbench.
Four years later the picture is remarkably similar, despite strategists on all sides of politics predicting a much narrower path to government before the November 26 poll.
The performance of the Liberal Party was labelled "disappointing" by party stalwarts and prompted some Nationals to call for the party to split from the Coalition.
Labor wins Northcote with fewer than 200 votes
Labor's victory in Northcote was closer than was initially anticipated, with only 184 votes separating the candidates after the VEC's formal distribution of preferences.
Based on internal figures, Greens candidate Campbell Gome last Thursday conceded defeat to Labor's Kat Theophanous.
In the week since, absentee votes with a high portion of Greens preferences narrowed the count.
The electorate takes in the inner Melbourne suburb of the same name and neighbouring Fairfield, Alphington, Thornbury and parts of Preston.
It was one of a number of inner-city seats where the Greens had hoped to take a seat from Labor. Nearby Richmond was the only seat to change from Labor to Green hands in the November poll.
It means there are four Greens MPs in the lower house for this term of parliament.
There are expected to be no independents sitting on the crossbench, with the Nationals winning back regional seats in 2022. Nationals candidate Jade Benham on Tuesday claimed victory in the battle for the seat of Mildura over independent Ali Cupper, more than a week after the ABC projected her win.
Until all counts and rechecks are finalised, the VEC does not declare a winner. Political parties and media outlets such as the ABC are able to declare or project winners much earlier.
The commission finalised preference numbers in Hawthorn, Brighton and Melton on Tuesday. There were no changes to the winners as declared by the parties and the ABC.
John Pesutto was declared in Hawthorn, confirming projections from a week earlier and allowing Mr Pesutto to continue running for Liberal leadership.
Teal independent Melissa Lowe failed to pass Labor's John Kennedy during the distribution of preferences, leaving the final count as a two-party preferred race between Labor and Liberal.
Mr Pesutto won with 51.7 per cent of the vote after preferences, a swing of 2.3 per cent to the Liberal Party, regaining the seat he lost to Mr Kennedy in 2018.
Bass, Pakenham and Preston distributions set for Wednesday
Just three seats now remain in doubt — Bass, Pakenham and Preston.
The regional electorate of Narracan is a deferred election after the death of a candidate, and electors will go back to the polls there next year.
Preston, which takes in the suburb of the same name and parts of its surrounds, had been due to be finalised on Tuesday. However, it is understood a dispute over the formality of some ballot papers was yet to be resolved by the time the distribution was meant to take place.
The formerly safe Labor seat has been a surprise contest in 2022. It was initially pegged as a contest between Labor's Nathan Lambert and Greens candidate Patchouli Paterson. But independent candidate and City of Darebin councillor Gaetano Greco overtook the Greens after election day.
ABC election analyst Antony Green has said it was unlikely Mr Greco would get the 75 per cent of preferences needed to defeat Labor, but the unusual nature of the count has meant it remained in doubt.
The new electorate of Pakenham has been an extremely close contest, with Liberal David Farrelly only marginally ahead of Labor's Emma Vulin on Tuesday afternoon.
Labor's Jordan Crugnale was leading by 211 votes against Liberal candidate Aaron Brown in Bass on Tuesday afternoon.
Two districts with high candidate numbers — Point Cook and Werribee —underwent computerised rechecks on Tuesday.
The ABC has projected a comfortable Labor win in both seats, and the MPs for both electorates have declared victory.
The upper house count is set to be finalised by next Tuesday, December 13.
