Canberra: Polling stations opened today for Australia's general election to choose members of its Parliament. Voters headed to more than 7,000 polling centers operated by the Australian Electoral Commission across the country from early morning.

According to Qatar News Agency, the center-left ruling Labor Party, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, is seeking a second term, while the opposition conservative Coalition, led by Peter Dutton, is aiming to return to power after having governed the country from 1996 to 2007 and again from 2013 to 2022.

Voting is compulsory for more than 18 million Australian citizens aged 18 and above who are registered with the Australian Electoral Commission. As of Thursday, a record 5.67 million people had already cast their votes at early voting centers, while 1.52 million voted by mail, according to the Commission.

In addition to thousands of polling stations inside the country, the Australian Electoral Commission is also operating 111 overseas voting centers across 83 countries. That number is higher than in any previous election.