VOTING has opened across the Tweed with long queues of people lining up at the major polling booths across the shire.

The lengthy eight-week campaign is finally drawing to a close with up to 112,820 voters enrolled in the seat of Richmond expected to cast their ballots by the close of stations at 6pm tonight.

Thousands of residents have already cast their votes, with more than 12,000 people voting at pre-poll booths at Tweed Heads, Tweed Heads South and Murwillumbah over the last couple of weeks.

A further 7000 people also applied for postal votes.

Six candidates are vying for the job, with Labor MP Justine Elliot tipped to retain the seat for a fifth term, on the back of preferences from the Greens.

http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/where-and-when-to-vote-in-tomorrows-federal-electi/3055222/

Closest in the running against the incumbent is Nationals candidate Matthew Fraser, who secured a higher primary vote than Mrs Elliot in 2013 (37.6% to 33.51%) but lost on preferences.

A similar result could be seen today, with the Greens’s candidate Dawn Walker having run a strong campaign and expected to increase her primary vote from the 17.69% she secured in 2013.

Held by Labor by a majority of just 1.6%, Richmond is considered a marginal seat and has attracted close scrutiny from political leaders and national media throughout the campaign.

Mrs Elliot, who was handing out how to vote cards with her family at Banora Point at the opening of the booths this morning, said she was looking forward to the results.

“It’s hard to tell how its going but there are certainly a lot of people that are keen to save Medicare,” Mrs Elliot said.

“They are responding really well to that.”

Punters are certainly behind Mrs Elliot in Richmond, with Labor sitting on $1.15 on Sportsbet compared to the Nationals on $5 and the Greens on $16.

The Christian Democratic Party’s Russell Kilarney and One Nation’s Neil Smith are both on odds of $1 to $101, while the Animal Justice Party’s candidate Angela Pollard would collect $151 if she won.

Nationally, the money is behind the Coalition on Sportsbet, with odds of $1.09 for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to retain his job, while Labor’s Bill Shorten is languishing behind on $7.25.

More updates to come as the day progresses.