EARLY voting began on Monday in Albury for the NSW election with a steady, but unspectacular, number lodging their ballots.
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When the NSW Electoral Commission's prepoll hub in Dean Street shut at 6pm scores had voted, with the tally much lower than in Wodonga for the equivalent day of Victoria's November poll.
Unlike Victoria, NSW residents still have to provide a reason for not being able to vote on election day.
The NSW Electoral Commission is not planning to follow its Victorian counterpart and publish data on its website showing how many early ballots have been lodged in each electorate.
Liberal candidate Justin Clancy and Labor hopeful Lauriston Muirhead were the only two of the five candidates for Albury to appear at the polling station on Monday.
Reflecting his English roots, Mr Muirhead donned a large red rosette, an adornment regularly worn by British Labour Party candidates.
"Everybody's very well-behaved and it's good fun," Mr Muirhead said of the atmosphere outside the early polling station where candidates have to stay six metres away from the entrance.
Meanwhile, Mr Clancy visited Lavington's Melrose Park on Monday afternoon to declare $2 million will be spent on upgrading sporting grounds in the Albury electorate if the Coalition government is re-elected.
The park's soccer club is seen a likely beneficiary with it having no female changeroom.
Club president David Pye said in his 32 years the only change to the small home team and visitors' rooms had been timber partitions between showers and benches which he made.
Eight male and three female Melrose teams can share the room on match days.