The number of people who have cast an early vote has tipped over the 1 million mark.

Early voting is still tracking ahead of the 2023 general election, but behind the equivalent 2020 dates.

The Electoral Commission's latest voting statistics show 159,994 people voted on Monday, with the cumulative number of early votes now at 1,074,416.

At this stage in the 2023 campaign, 860,668 people had cast an early vote.

In 2020, 1,282,028 people had cast an early vote by this point.

The statistics do not include overseas votes.

About 600 voting places would be open daily this week, with that number rising to more than 2300 on election day. 

The strong early turnout comes despite the government introducing controversial new rules that ended enrolment 13 days before the election on Saturday, November 7, with critics arguing the earlier cut-off could deter participation.

Latest polls still show no clear winner or coalition grouping in the tightly-contested election.

- Additional reporting by Reuters