Residents of Lakes Entrance will have their say for the future of the region in this Saturday’s Federal Election.

There are polling booths at St Brendan’s Catholic Primary School, Lakes Entrance Mechanics Hall, Toorloo Arm Primary School, Metung Primary School, Johnsonville Public Hall and Nowa Nowa Community Health Centre, which open at 8am and close at 6pm.

For the first time an early polling booth was established at the Lakes Entrance Mechanics Hall. When it opened last week, there was a steady stream of voters ready to fill out their ballot papers.

The Australian Electoral Commission says early voting is becoming more popular with the public.

Polling stations opened in other parts of the country a week earlier and the AEC says there are already indications pre-poll voting is up from 2016.

During the last Federal elections in 2016, about 10,000 people voted early, although the AEC expects that number to be much higher this time around.

Gippsland has seven candidates contesting the election – David Snelling (Shooters, Fishers and Farmers), Neville Phillip Tickner (Fraser Anning’s Conservative National Party), Deb Foskey (Greens), Kerri Jane Brewer (United Australia Party), Antoinette Holms (Labor), Sonia Buckley (Independent) and Darren Chester (Nationals).

History suggests that the Gippsland electorate is a safe Country/Nationals seat and currently sitting member, Darren Chester, is holding an 18.2 per cent margin.

Across the country, the Labor Party has 51 per cent of the two party preferred vote, according to Newspoll at the time of going to press, however it sits two per cent behind the Coalition on primary votes.

Labor needs to win 13 seats to earn a majority.