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ACT Election: National Capital Goes To The Polls

The ACT is voting on Saturday.
Voters in the ACT are heading to election booths on Saturday.
David Gray / Reuters
Voters in the ACT are heading to election booths on Saturday.

ACT voters are heading to the polls on Saturday, with the Labor government being given the chance to extend it's long reign in power.

Labor has been in power in the ACT since 2001 and will retain control in the capital territory for more than two decades if it wins Saturday's poll.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr is looking to get Labor returned while Liberal leader Jeremy Hanson is urging ACT residents to opt for a change in government.

The election campaign has largely focused on a debate about the fate of Labor's proposed light rail system.

Both Labor and the opposition want to construct new hospital buildings, update major roads and improve school infrastructure, according to the ABC.

The Liberals don't rate the plan and want scrap project contracts and instead expand the bus system.

There are 141 candidates standing for election as the Legislative Assembly balloons from 17 members to 25.

It's predicted that Labor and the Liberals will each get 10 seats, while the Greens are tipped to pick up 2 seats.

Barr told reporters in Canberra he was cautiously optimistic about today's poll.

"We would want to hold our position in the assembly, add extra seats," he said.

"Our primary vote we would hope would be around what we have received in previous elections. All of the indications are that we should be in and around that sort of figure."

Hanson told The Guardian he believed there was a mood of change in the ACT.

"There is a smell around this government. We've also been a very credible, very professional opposition. We are ready for government," he's quoted as saying.

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