NSW State Election 2015: Rolling coverage | Photos

10pm: This is some of what Mike Baird had to say in his acceptance speech tonight as his supporters chanted "four more year".

"Friends I love this state ... Tonight they [the people of NSW] have chosen hope over fear. We sought a mandate to make NSW great and tonight the people of NSW have given us that mandate and to them we say thank you". 

9.55pm: Troy Grant will be returned as the Member for Dubbo, earning another four-year term in State Parliament. Mr Grant received a phone call from Country Labor candidate Stephen Lawrence at close to 8pm on Saturday night. Mr Lawrence conceded defeat in the election. 

9.50pm: Labor's Tim Crakanthorp has stopped short of claiming victory in Newcastle but said he's "fairly confident" of retaining the seat he won in October.

► Maitland: Labor's Jenny Aitchison has won the seat of Maitland.  At 9.40pm the split was 62.45 per cent Labor and 37.55 per cent Liberal.

9.35pm: The Greens look set to claim at least two lower house seats in the NSW Election with wins in Newtown and Balmain, and may capture a third, with either the Greens or Labor likely to seize the north coast seat of Ballina.

9.30pm: Opposition Leader Luke Foley has arrived at the Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club to deliver his concession speech.

He thanks Premier Mike Baird for being a "formidable and honourable" opponent.

"Mike Baird and I have both ensured it was never personal," Foley says of the issues-driven campaign.

Luke Foley says the polls show voters believe it is "too soon" for Labor to return to government. But he says that the ALP has received half a million more votes than in the last election in 2011.

"Today the heartland has returned," Opposition Leader Luke Foley says.

He thanks voters for electing Labor candidates in seats in western Sydney, the Hunter and other key battleground areas.

9.20pm: Go on, we know you want to - play with the vote pendulum

9.05pm: A quick call of the card from the Illawarra - 

9pm: So far 21,908 votes out of 52,393 for the South Coast electorate have been counted. Liberals' Shelley Hancock is in the lead by 58.2 per cent with Labor's Fiona Phillips at 41.8 per cent of the votes. Keep in touch with the South Coast Register

► Newcastle: Labor's Tim Crakanthorp is expected to shortly claim victory in the seat of Newcastle. Across the bridge at Wickham's Albion Hotel, the mood is slightly less excited in Karen Howard's Liberal bunker.

►  Wagga: Liberal supporters at Wagga campaign office are celebrating victory. However, a cautious Daryl Maguire is yet to formally announce victory and says he is waiting for the Wagga and Lockhart pre-polls to be counted.

8.55pm: Kevin Anderson has declared victory in front of dozens of supporters and family members at the Tamworth Hotel. "We've got a big job ahead of us," Mr Anderson told the crowd. "What is next for us is something that I think is quite special for the Tamworth electorate."

8.45pm: Labor MP Noreen Hay has declared victory in the seat of Wollongong and also on the south coast, NSW Labor has called the seat of Keira.

► Port Stephens: Kate Washington wants to be a member Port Stephens can trust she declared in Raymond Terrace Saturday night, signifying a state election victory.

► Western Sydney: Here's you chance to check out what's happening in western Sydney. With thanks to the Penrith City Gazette.

8.40pm: New booths are in and Wagga Liberal Daryl Maguire has now claimed more than 60 per cent of the vote on first preference. On two-party preferred Mr Maguire holds 72 per cent of the vote. Fairfax Media predicts a Liberal retain.

► Dubbo: And we now have word that Stephen Lawrence has conceded the seat of Dubbo. Deputy Premier Troy Grant has given a victory speech to National Party faithful at his Dubbo campaign office and tomorrow will begin his second term. It is too early to know whether there will be a reduction in Grant's margin compared to 2011.

8.37pm: The polls predicted it. The numbers reflect it. And the SMH has called it. The Coalition has won a second term in office.

Premier Mike Baird will push ahead with his plan to partially privatise the state's poles and wires to unlock billions to spend on priority infrastructure projects.

But he may face some obstacles in the upper house to pursuing his privatisation plans.

We expect his Labor challenger, Luke Foley, will deliver his concession speech shortly

► Maitland: With 8190 votes counted Labor's Jenny Aitchison is powering ahead with 63.47 per cent, ahead of Liberal candidate Steve Thomson with 36.53 per cent.

8.05pm: Paul Toole will be comfortably returned as the Member for Bathurst, earning his second four-year term in State Parliament. Mr Toole pulled well ahead of his rivals right from the start of counting of votes shortly after polls closed at 6pm and has maintained that lead as counting continues.

8.02pm: With about 30 per cent of the vote counted in Swansea with Labor's Yasmin Catley cruising to victory. Former Liberal MP Garry Edwards is a very distant third.

7.45pm: Noreen Hay leads the seat of Wollongong with 38.4% of the 1870 votes counted. Keep up to date here

7.40pm: TV pundits certainly aren't holding back and being cautious. They already have "called" a number of seat. One, which is expected to be a bit of a tussle, they say, will be Goulburn. Yet with just 12 per cent of the counted, it's a Pru Goward win, they say. Or ... you could follow the Goulburn Post's live blog.

7.30pm: Independent candidate for the seat of Barwon Rohan Boehm says his team have been "a bit surprised about how well it's gone".

Boehm, a business strategist and former Land journalist, said he and his "team of amateurs" have had an uphill battle against incumbent Kevin Humphries of the Nationals, who needs a 25.8 per cent swing to be unseated.

Boehm spent Saturday in and around his base in Narrabri. Humphries, though, was busy travelling around the massive electorate, visiting Lightning Ridge, Cobar, Wilcannia, and ending up in Broken Hill.

"He's been the proverbial blue-arsed fly," Boehm said.

The seat covers about 45 per cent of the state, or an area bigger than Victoria and Tasmania combined.

Boehm said Labor had appeared to cut their losses in the seat, leaving him as the main rival against the incumbent Mr Humphries.

With Broken Hill's seven booths shutting half an hour behind the rest of the state (at 6.30pm), Barwon may take a little longer than most to get a feel, results-wise.

7.15pm: After voters were forced to wait to cast their vote earlier in Junee, a complaint is expected to be lodged to the NSW Electoral Commission.

► Early information from polling booths in the city's east suggests Labor's Jenny Aitchison is the front-runner for Maitland. The struggle for second place looks to be shared between independent Philip Penfold and Liberal's Steve Thomson. 

7pm: This is why some seats may run in to difficulties wrapping up tonight ...

Three times as many NSW voters were set to cast their votes early in this election, a trend that strategists say will change the rhythm of election campaigns. 

The ABC's gun election guru Antony Green is asked if this poses a problem in divining the election result tonight.

"It's only a problem if it gets close," Green says.

6.45pm: Not everyone took the democratic process as seriously as maybe hoped. This from the Bega District News Facebook page:

6.05pm: How the day panned out on the far south coast in Bega. Read on

6pm: Polls are shut. Now the counting and waiting ...

5.45pm: The Newcastle Herald is reporting about a kerfuffle after Australian Cyclists Party candidate Sam Reich has come under fire in Newcastle over a slightly dodgy how-to-vote card. Sam, who may or may not have worn lycra to the ballot box, directed preferences only to Labor’s Tim Crakanthorp. 

5.15pm: Cootamundra candidate Katrina Hodgkinson has continued her tour of the electorate seeking to break her own record for the number of polling stations visited on one day. She had one last pitch to voters during her stop over in Junee this afternoon. Watch it here

5pm: One hour to go for you to have your say in the 2015 state election. Get there ... a bit like the young chap below!

4.15pm: With less than two hours until the polls close, Independent for Wagga Paul Funnell said the big issue voters need to think about as they cast their vote “proper representation”. Meanwhile, a Labor source told the Daily Advertiser the removal of the “Gillard factor” has helped the party’s political fortunes in this campaign.

3.30pm: Wollongong Liberal candidate Cameron Walters says he has visited about 20 polling booths in his attempt to unseat Noreen Hay. 

3pm: Need to know what's happening in the Hunter Valley? The Maitland Mercury has you covered. The live blog is up and running.

2.15pm: Accusations of dirty tricks and political skulduggery are already marring election day in the Hunter, with even a returning officer under fire. While election fatigue has been clearly visible among those voting in Newcastle and Charlestown - where some are voting for the fourth time in slightly more than five months - the mood has been good throughout most parts of the region.

1.50pm: Riverina Greens secretary Ray Goodlass makes his final pitch to voters, highlighting Kevin Poynter’s council experience as an asset. He said the mood of voters in Central Wagga was positive, with only one or two snarky remarks to party volunteers in the morning. Check out the video here

1.15pm: From the central west ... Nationals' Paul Toole was at Bathurst Public School to cast his vote. His chat features below while Alice Coomans spoke the Country Labor candidate Cassandra Coleman earlier in the day.

1pm: Uh-ohhhhh, trouble's brewing in the Hunter:

► WELLINGTON: It's not just the candidates having to drive 'long distances' to vote today, with residents in the town of Euchareena forced to drive to Stuart Town today to cast their vote. 

Euchareena sits in the seat of Dubbo. 

While it's only a 14 minute drive, the residents used to be able to vote at the local school. 

Stuart Town local Marcus Hanney says many people have said they are not impressed with having to go 'a long way' to cast their vote in the 2015 NSW State Election.

Euchareena residents are saying they will write to the electoral commission.

11.30am: Let's have a quick whip around the Fairfax Regional Media websites and check out what's happening across the state ...

► The Daily Advertiser at Wagga Wagga is keeping a keen eye on the seats of Wagga, Murray and Cootamundra.

► Pundits believe the seat of Goulburn could provide pollie-watchers with some action this evening. The Goulburn Post has its finger on the pulse. Here's how the Goulburn candidates responded when given the chance to have a final pitch.

►The Illawarra Mercury is on top of all things political south of Sydney. It might come as little surprise that there has been somepre-election day drama in the seat of Wollongong - Andrew Pearson explains.

►The Western Advocate is all over the seat of Bathurst - as you'd expect! The rolling coverage includes a quick chat with Country Labor candidate Cassandra Coleman at Bathurst South Public School this morning.

► The Daily Liberal is across all matters Dubbo in the state's central west. Here's how election day is panning out there

► Meanwhile Tamworth could be another seat providing some electoral action later this evening. Independent Peter Draper is challenging for the seat he held for eight years before being rolled by the Nationals' Kevin Anderson in 2011. Labor preferences may help Draper over the line. Here is the link to the Northern Daily Leader's rolling reports across the state's north-west.

► The weather's glorious In Port Macquarie, no wonder the queues were sizeable this morning. Here's what's happening on the Mid-North Coast.

► In Newcastle, The Herald are watching and waiting a little. The live blog will kick into gear at 5.30pm. It's bound to be a beauty and one to watch!

It's an election that will be closely watched in Canberra- so what can we expect? Watch what smh.com.au contributing editor Quentin Dempster and online political editor Chris Hammer have to say.

► Do you know your state politics? Check out our timeline of NSW premiers right here