NSW Premier Mike Baird and Opposition Leader Luke Foley are making their last pitch to voters in the final hours of polling in the state election.

The leaders of the state’s two main political parties cast their ballots this morning, but then continued the fight for votes by hitting up polling booths in crucial seats around Sydney.

Mr Baird said he was not relying on polls showing a favourable outcome and would campaign until the polls closed at 6:00pm.

Despite the recent experiences of first-term Coalition governments in Queensland and Victoria, polls show Mr Baird is on track to be returned comfortably.

The Premier and his wife Kerryn were grinning from ear to ear as they arrived holding hands to cast their votes at Queenscliff surf club on Sydney’s northern beaches.

Mr Baird said he had had no trouble sleeping last night.

“We feel good. It’s a tight race, I mean this is going to be tight and I think we’ve said it all along. But I think we’ve put forward one of the most positive plans this state has ever seen,” he said.

“Looking forward to casting our vote and it’s a big decision today. I think the people of NSW have got two choices, we can either keep going or we can go backwards and obviously we’re voting to keep going.”

The Premier was surrounded by a scrum of cameras as he spelt out his surname for the polling booth worker looking for his name on the Manly electoral roll.

He cast his ballot, then later confirmed there were no prizes for guessing who he had voted for.

“I voted for myself, I have to be honest about that,” Mr Baird said, laughing.

It was a family affair at the polling booth, with Mr Baird’s brother Steve, mother Judy and former politician father Bruce Baird handing out how-to-vote cards for the Premier.

Bruce Baird joked about his own vote.

“It was a tough call but I gave it to Mike,” he said.

He said it would be a long, nervous day for him.

NSW Premier Mike Baird on election day. Photo: ABC

“It’s worse being a parent than being a candidate, and I won’t be relaxed until I see the results finally in and hopefully he gets there,” Mr Baird senior said.

He said there had been a warm reception to the Premier’s how to vote cards in his home electorate.

“He’s quite popular in Manly so it’s not hard. We don’t have people being nasty or throwing things, that’s not Manly – they’re all nice,” he said.

He said his son had advised him not to read the newspapers during the campaign.

“You take the criticisms far far worse (as a father) than when you are the candidate yourself. And his advice to me part way through the campaign was ‘don’t read the papers’ – and I don’t need any reporting on negative stuff, just tell me the good news.”

But Mr Baird senior said he could not resist sneaking a peek anyway.

“I did, I constantly read it,” he said.

Meanwhile New South Wales Labor leader Luke Foley was upbeat when casting his vote with his wife Edel at Concord West Public School.

Mr Foley was not able to vote for himself because he lives just outside his electorate of Auburn.

He said it had been a good contest.

“Here to vote with Edel. Edel’s first vote. She became an Australian citizen last year, excited to vote. Mr Baird’s letters had no effect on Edel,” he said.

“Looking forward to a good night, so thanks for coming, all good a wonderful day. A democratic contest.

“As I said when Mike Baird and I were on a TV show they asked me what I thought of Mike Baird. I said “good bloke and my second pick for premier today.”

He told the waiting media scrum he was feeling good.

“Looking forward to it. Hey guys, how are you? Good to see you,” he said.

Labor expected to pick up seats

Labor is hoping to pick up between 10 and 15 seats today, but that would not be enough to unseat the incumbents.

Opposition leader Luke Foley and his wife Edel. Photo: ABC

However, Mr Foley said the polls were not a good guide in the Queensland and Victorian elections.

“This has been Labor at its best,” Mr Foley said.

“Don’t listen to those polls, it is a very tight election.”

A senior Liberal source told the ABC if the Coalition received between 44 to 45 per cent of the primary vote, that could give it nine seats in the Upper House, but not necessarily enough control to see an easy passage of plans to privatise the electricity network.

While the privatisation of the state’s poles and wires has dominated the campaign, both Mr Foley and Mr Baird spent the last day of campaigning spruiking major policies across Sydney.

Monaro and Goulburn incumbents cautious about outcome

In the bellweather seat of Monaro, the National’s John Barilaro and Labor’s Steve Whan believe the outcome will be close.

The incumbent, Mr Barilaro, said he expected federal issues would influence voters.

“You’d have to be silly not to think that federal factors, the Abbott factor, the leadership factors aren’t playing a role in this seat, because of the federal public sector job cuts, it does impact on people that live on my side of the border,” he said.

Mr Whan is hoping to reclaim the seat, but conceded it would be a very close race.

“I was certainly speaking on the phone to people in the last two days who told me they would make up their mind when they got to the polling booth,” he said.

Voters in NSW make their decisions. Photo: ABC

“So it’s very important that we’re still talking to people, that we’re still out there with our message right up until then.”

Labor’s candidate for Goulburn, Ursula Stephens, said she was feeling as confident as she could be about today’s vote.

The former senator is trying to snatch the seat from Planning Minister Pru Goward, who has a comfortable margin of almost 27 per cent.

Ms Stephens said people in Goulburn were ready for change.

“Well I think as confident as I can be,” she said.

“None of us really understand how the demographics have changed and the boundaries have changed so significantly in this seat that it’s really difficult to predict just what’s happening.

“But there’s a very good feel and a real sense that people are ready for a change,” she said.

Meantime, Ms Goward admitted it was going to be a tight race for the seat of Goulburn, saying she had no doubt there would be a swing.

“I think it will be tight, I don’t think we’ll lose the seat but we could, you can never know with Australians they take their vote very seriously and they don’t always tell you on the phone how they’re going to vote, anything can always happen but I feel comfortable,” she said.

Undecided voters lean to minor parties

The latest Vote Compass survey indicated that undecided voters are leaning toward minor parties and education topped their concerns.

Of more than 60,200 people who took the survey, 9 per cent said they were still undecided on which party they would vote for.

The highest number of undecided voters (13 per cent) were aged between 18 and 34, and more men had made up their minds than women.

Undecided voters ranked education as topping their list of concerns, followed by cost of living, asset sales and health care.

More than a third of undecided voters (37 per cent) said they were leaning toward minor parties.

NSW Electoral Commissioner Colin Barry has advised voters that polling places are usually busier in the morning.

“Electors who wish to avoid queues or who would like to take more time with their voting are encouraged to visit polling places after 2:00pm when they are less busy,” Mr Barry said.

The election results will be published on the NSW Electoral Commission (NSWEC) website from 7:00pm and will be updated continuously throughout the evening.

It is anticipated by the NSWEC that the result of approximately 75 per cent of enrolled voters will be on display by 11:00pm.