By Friday close to a quarter of the state's 5.5 million voters had cast their ballots, with nearly 1.2 million people pre-polling and 92,000 lodging postal votes.
Premier Dominic Perrottet and Labor leader Chris Minns have campaigned hard in key seats in western Sydney, where one in ten Australians live and could well decide the election result.
Mr Perrottet is expected to vote in his seat of Epping, in Sydney's northwest while Mr Minns will cast his vote in the seat of Kogarah, in the city's south, which he holds by a 0.1 per cent margin.
The premier is seeking a fourth consecutive four-year term for his Liberal-National coalition on a platform of responsible financial management he says would fund life-changing infrastructure.
It would be the first time the party has managed the feat since 1973.
"It is only the Liberals and the Nationals with the long-term economic plan to keep NSW moving forward," Mr Perrottet told reporters on Friday.
Mr Minns has offered voters the chance for a "fresh start" under Labor, including removing a wage cap on struggling public service workers and promising not to further privatise public assets.
"At this election you can cast a vote for positive change," he said in a final message to voters.
On the eve of the election, Newspoll showed Labor leading the coalition 54.5 to 45.5 on a two-party preferred basis.
This would represent a 6.5 per cent swing against the coalition since 2019, putting Labor on a path to claim the ten seats needed to form a majority government.
The poll put Labor's primary vote at 38 per cent compared to the coalition vote at 35 per cent and found Mr Minns had overtaken Mr Perrottet as preferred premier.
A raft of minor party and independent candidates vying for the cross bench could make the difference in the event of a minority government, with the Greens and teals vowing to hold the government to account on climate and other progressive reforms.
Rising financial pressure on families and businesses has put cost of living front and centre of the election, with both parties promising relief in the form of rebates on energy bills and caps on road tolls.
NSW Electoral Commissioner John Schmidt said special assistance was available for those who needed it such as the blind, deaf or anyone needing a translator.
Voters have until 6pm to cast their ballots.
31°C