Polls opened across Australia on Saturday, where voters must decide whether Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Conservative government can defy the odds and remain in power for a fourth three-year term, the AP reported.

His opponent, Anthony Albanese, leader of the opposition center-left Labor Party, was considered the favorite in the first election since 2007.

But Morrison defied opinion polls in 2019 by leading his coalition to victory.

His coalition has 76 seats in the 151-seat House of Representatives, where parties need a majority to form government.

Both contestants were campaigning in Melbourne Saturday morning before voting in their hometown of Sydney.

The first polls will close on the country's east coast at 6 p.m. local time.

Because of the pandemic, more than 48 percent of Australia's 17 million voters have voted early or applied for a mail-in ballot, which will likely slow the vote count.

Voting is compulsory for adult citizens, and 92% of registered voters voted in the last election.