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AAP
AAP
Alex Mitchell, Aaron Bunch and Samantha Lock

Come as you are: voters make their mark on election day

A colourful day at the ballot box began with voters in their bathers at Sydney's famous Bondi Beach. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP PHOTOS)

Millions of Australians have visited polling booths on election day, casting their votes and eating snags, bringing to a close another seemingly endless five-week campaign.

Many eased the boredom of waiting in long queues by tucking into a democracy sausage, donning satirical T-shirts and persuading fellow voters through creative campaign signs.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has spent much of his election campaign trying to distance himself from US President Donald Trump, but some voters held on tightly to the comparison.

In the Melbourne electorate of Kooyong, one punter morphed his face with the president's wispy orange hair on a sign that read 'Put Dutton Last'.

Election sign showing graphic merging peter Dutton and Donald Trump
Creative campaigners and others have clung to comparisons between Peter Dutton and Donald Trump. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)

Another voter, in the nearby Melbourne electorate of Macnamara, wore a shirt emblazoned with the slogan 'Good Morning To Everyone Except Peter Dutton'.

Despite his efforts to shed his 'Temu Trump' moniker, coalition Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price perhaps gave the game away when she urged her voters to 'Make Australia Great Again' while on the campaign trail.

Protest was the theme of election day for some, including in Canberra where Finance Minister Katy Gallagher received a verbal barrage from a pro-Palestine demonstrator.

Carolyn Hutchins at a polling booth in Windsor in Melbourne
A Melbourne voter's T-shirt singled out the opposition leader for exclusion from a common greeting. (Diego Fedele/AAP PHOTOS)

The man accused Senator Gallagher of being "complicit in genocide".

"Sixty days plus and no food and no water and no medicines and no fuel and your government is complicit in this genocide," the man said.

"You are guilty and belong at the International Criminal Court."

Man wearing protest sign arrives at polling station
One protester took issue with compulsory voting, rather than a party or candidate. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)

Mr Dutton started his Saturday visiting an old friend in the once blue-ribbon seat of Goldstein, handing out how-to-vote cards at a cafe in Brighton, in Melbourne's inner southeast.

The opposition leader had a cup of tea with Liberal candidate Tim Wilson, who was rolled at the 2022 election by teal independent Zoe Daniel.

Ms Daniel geared up for her rematch by casting her ballot at Hampton Primary School, where she was met by some particularly enthusiastic fans including one who found a way to show her support using some jazzy nail polish art.

Seen on a supporter of Independent candidate Zoe Daniel
A Zoe Daniel supporter came up with a novel way to show her support. (Diego Fedele/AAP PHOTOS)

Mr Albanese started the morning at the MCG making a series of somewhat-witty, football-related gags during interviews with television networks.

They ranged from it being "game day" and "grand final day" to being in the "fourth quarter" and trying to "kick goals", adding he'd "left nothing on the field" in the election campaign.

He was at the MCG just12 hours before Saturday's blockbuster AFL clash between Collingwood and Geelong, where an expected crowd of more than 80,000 people will pay little-to-no attention to the vote count.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the MCG
The prime minister started his morning in front of the camera at the MCG. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)

A chilly 14C morning in Sydney meant most voters opted for long pants and jumpers, although some had other ideas.

Fresh from a morning dip in Australia's most famous beach, a few punters strolled into a polling centre near Bondi Beach in nothing but budgie smugglers to cast their ballots.

In Perth's east, WA Premier Roger Cook joined Labor's Bullwinkel candidate Trish Cook on the hustings at Wattle Grove Primary School to hand out how-to-vote cards.

The pair joked about their common surname for the cameras, saying they "definitely weren't related", while Ms Cook detailed how she prepares a sausage in bread.

Voters get a democracy sausage
Democracy sausages have been the highlight of election day for many Australians. (Jono Searle/AAP PHOTOS)

"Snake tomato sauce and a little bit of mustard ... I'll definitely be having one at the end of the day," she said with a laugh.

Overseas, Australians can vote at 111 locations across 83 countries, the most polling places ever set up abroad.

The biggest overseas polling booths are in London, New York, Berlin and Hong Kong, with the smallest in Nauru, Accra and Rarotonga.

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