Australia Begins Vote Counting in Tight Election Race

The general elections in Australia take place two months after PM Julia Gillard (pictured) ousted Kevin Rudd in a controversial leadership challenge. Photo by www.abc.net.au

Vote counting began in Australia Saturday after the polls closed in a general election considered the tightest in the country for decades, BBC reports.

With over half of votes counted, projections by Australia's ABC put current Prime Minister Julia Gillard's Labor party with a slight lead, but the results also show a possibility for a Parliament without a clear majority and withdrawal of support for the Labor party in parts of the country, particularly the key Queensland and New South Wales states.

Australia's last hung parliament was in 1940 and there is fear the situation will be repeated 60 years later if neither contender gains 76 or more seats.

Unofficial ABC figures, based on 53% of votes counted, show Gillard has more seats but only 38% of votes, compared with 44% for conservative coalition leader Tony Abbott.

Fourteen million registered voters began casting their ballots at 8 am local time. Voting is obligatory in Australia.

A Channel 9 exit poll suggested an expected Labor win of 52% compared to 48% for the conservatives. A second exit poll by Sky News indicated Gillard would get 51% of the votes and Abbott - 49%.

All of the seats in the lower house are up for grabs, plus half of the seats in the Senate - where opinion polls show the Greens could end up holding the balance of power.

The vote takes place two months after Gillard ousted Kevin Rudd in a controversial leadership challenge. She was his deputy, and when she challenged him for the leadership in June he surrendered without a fight after realizing he lost ground among government colleagues had collapsed. But Gillard's move triggered strong criticism, with support for her falling sharply in the two months since she has been in office.

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