With the incumbent Labor government sliding in the polls, the Victorian Liberals are facing-off with Labor in Werribee and the Greens in Prahran, in what is expected to be a test of Jacinta Allan's premiership.
"This is actually, overall, a test of what the government's delivering for Victoria," opposition leader Brad Battin told reporters at a South Yarra voting centre.
The Liberals' candidate for Prahran Rachel Westaway said it was an exciting day after six weeks of campaigning.
"People are really concerned about the cost of living and crime," Ms Westaway said.
"There is a great feeling for an opportunity to make a difference in the seat of Prahran."
The Greens have held Prahran for the past ten years and Greens MP Sam Hibbins held the seat on a 12 per cent margin in 2022 but quit in disgrace following revelations he had an affair with a staffer.
His would-be Greens replacement Angelica Di Camillo is a environmental engineer, climate strategist and campaigner.
Labor is not running a candidate in Prahran.
Meanwhile, Jacinta Allan has been handing out how to vote cards at a primary school in Wyndham Vale for Labor's Werribee candidate, local school teacher and volunteer firefighter John Lister.
Werribee has been a Labor stronghold since 1979 and was held by now retired Treasurer Tim Pallas on a 10.9 per cent margin in 2022.
But with Labor sliding in the polls and support waning in the outer suburbs, pollsters believe it could change hands.
"The Victorian Liberals have been doing well in the outer suburbs, particularly the outer western suburbs," said election analyst Ben Raue of the Tally Room.
"That could be the kind of seat where you could see a backlash (and) they could lose."
Former policeman and army trooper Steve Murphy will contend the seat for the Liberals.
A swing of seven per cent in Werribee would be a pass mark for Labor but anything more would be problematic for Ms Allan, former Liberal strategist turned pollster Tony Barry said.
"If the Liberals were to win - which would still be an extraordinary effort - that's going to send shock waves through the Victorian body politic," the RedBridge director said.
Cost of living is the dominant issue among 65 per cent of voters, with housing attainability adding another 15 per cent.
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