It looks like a general election in Australia will be very close today. Even hours after polls closed, it was not clear which party would nominate the future prime minister. The race will be decided between the Social Democratic Labor Party, led by former opposition leader Anthony Albanese, and the conservative right-wing coalition led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. According to preliminary results, the Labor Party was in the lead.
However, that may not be enough to get a majority. The potential stalemate stems mainly from the good performance of several independent candidates and the Australian Greens (the Greens).
‘Parliament in limbo’
Experts at Australia’s ABC said there could be a “hung parliament” without any party getting an outright majority. In most cases, after negotiations, a minority government is formed by a party dependent on the votes of other parties in the House of Representatives.
About 17 million eligible voters were invited to vote for all 151 seats in the House of Commons and half of the 78 seats in the Senate. There is a mandatory option. About half of Australians reportedly voted in advance, either by absentee ballot or early voting. And 2.7 million mail-in votes were not counted on Saturday.
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