And while the bright sunshine made for perfect barbecue weather, The Standard didn't spot a single democracy sausage at the polling booths in central Warrnambool.

At Warrnambool Primary School, where independent hopeful Alex Dyson cast his ballot, things were steady and quiet throughout the day.

Down the hill at St Joseph's Primary the crowds had died down by 4pm, but volunteer and former Greens candidate Thomas Campbell said it had been busy earlier in the day.

"Around 1pm the queue had been out through the carpark and onto the footpath," he said.

Mr Campbell said there was a noticeable difference in the voters he saw on Saturday compared with previous federal elections.

"I've never had so many people refuse a how-to-vote card. They just wanted to go straight in."

He said he wasn't sure whether people weren't taking the how-to-vote cards because they intended to submit a donkey vote - where a person simply numbers the ballot in the order names are listed - or whether voters were simply sick of political parties telling them how to vote.

At Temperance Hall in the Koroit Street former Warrnambool councillor Jacinta Ermacora said there had been an almost constant queue .

"I think it's the biggest booth in the electorate, so it's no surprise it's been busy all day," she said.

Member for Wannon Dan Tehan arrived around 5.30pm to greet late-arriving voters before the booth shut.

Mr Tehan said he had driven around almost the whole electorate earlier in the day, starting at Portland and visiting a dozen towns from Branxholme to Lake Bolac.

"The main thing is to get around and thank the volunteers who've worked so hard," he said.

Mr Tehan couldn't give a definitive answer on the mood of the electorate.

"The vibe on election day is always a little bit different each time, so it is hard to describe what it was like today," he said.

"You can only run your own campaign and be positive. Ultimately you're in the people's hands, so it's quite humbling really."

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