Greens defiant as polls open in Victorian election

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Greens defiant as polls open in Victorian election

In his final message to voters, Premier Daniel Andrews has urged Victorians to vote one for their Labor candidate to ensure a stable majority government for the next four years.

His message comes as a defiant Greens leader Samantha Ratnam hailed the minor party's campaign, the largest it has run, as a success despite a series of scandals.

Voting in the Greens heartland of Brunswick, Ms Ratnam hit back at Labor's attacks against her party.

Three opinion polls published at the end of the campaign show Labor should be returned with a narrow majority if the results are uniform across the state.

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But if it doesn't, the Greens - who currently hold three seats and are aiming for more despite a scandal-riddled campaign - could be the kingmakers.

Despite that, Mr Andrews is refusing to cut a deal with the party he says has a toxic culture and says Labor provides the proven track record on progressive policies for the state.

He cast his vote on Saturday morning at Albany Rise Primary School in his seat of Mulgrave, which Labor holds by 4.5 per cent, considered marginal.

He arrived holding hands with his wife Cath.

There were no comments for waiting media, only an over-the-shoulder "hello" to Liberal opponent Maree Davenport, before he dropped a coin in the collection tin for charity Aussie Dollar Drop and disappeared inside to vote.

"He holds the seat by only 1600 votes," Ms Davenport, a former upper house member, said.

"A lot of people are extremely disappointed about a lot of things he's done and hasn't done."

But nothing could wipe the smile off Mr Andrews' face as he confidently shook a few hands as a couple of people called "good luck Daniel".

Making his final pitch to voters during a TV appearance earlier on Saturday morning, Mr Andrews said "a handful of votes in a handful of seats" was all that separates the two major parties on Saturday.

Labor currently holds a one-seat majority in the 88-seat parliament, while the Liberal-National coalition is on 38 and the Greens three.

Despite polls pointing to a Labor win, Mr Andrews said he was taking nothing for granted and would be campaigning right up till the polling booths close at 6pm.

Ms Ratnam, whose party was thrust into turmoil in the final hours of the election campaign after standing down a candidate amid accusations of rape, said the 2018 campaign was the largest the party had run.

She said Greens had knocked on more than 160,000 doors across inner Melbourne during the election campaign.

Ms Ratnam has accused the Labor party of resorting to "dirty tricks, negative campaigning and mud-slinging".

"During this campaign we have come under extraordinary attack and we're coming under attack because we're a threat," she said.

"Daniel Andrews seems somewhat obsessed with the Greens, and that's because we're a threat.

"[Labor] have tried to dismiss the Greens for 25 years, but every single time we defy them. This Greens movement is here to stay; the movement is here to grow; the movement is here to transform politics right across this country and right across this state."

Ms Ratnam has questioned the "veracity" of the polls and says support for the party hasn't wavered in the community. She said voters weren't interested in the dirty politicking, and were more concerned about progressive issues.

Coalition leader Matthew Guy voted early (along with more than a million Victorians) but he was able to count on a couple more votes when his parents Vera and Chris voted in Eltham on Saturday morning.

“As a mother of course I think he’s going to win,” Vera said. “He’s worked very hard.”

They cast their vote at Sherbourne Primary School for their son’s childhood friend Nick McGowan, who is hoping to win the seat of Eltham from Labor’s Vicki Ward.

Despite the drizzling morning, Guy was in high spirits as he showed the media around his old
primary school that he first attended in 1979.

There was the bike ride he used to take up the hill on Outlook Crescent and the chicken pen that held Super Chook, who unfortunately died.

He joked with the parents working the sausage sizzle about the pork barrelling of a former Labor government that built a pool at the school in the 1980s. When they asked what he would promise them, Guy responded to laughter: “Another pool!”

It wasn’t a totally warm reception for Guy, with some voters throwing barbs about lobsters and other controversies in his direction.

One even shook his hand and said good luck but told him he “didn’t have a hope in hell”.

However, the negativity didn’t seem to phase Guy too much, who smiled his way through the visit, telling another friend who voted that they would grab a beer soon and “we’ll get an Uber home”.

He told the media that the Liberals were still in with a shot of winning thanks to the party’s “quiet on-the-ground campaigning”.

“We’ve done a lot of that, more than we ever have before, much more than our opponents and we hope that it bears fruit tonight,” he said.

with AAP