Voters will head to the polls this Saturday to make a choice between 12 House of Representatives candidates in the Farrer by-election.

The by-election was triggered by the former Liberal leader Sussan Ley’s resignation after she lost the party leadership to Angus Taylor in February.

By-election candidates, according to the ballot paper order, include Raissa Butkowski (Liberal), Michelle Milthorpe (Independent), Jamie Bonnefin (Gerard Rennick People First), Brad Robertson (The Nationals), Aimee Lee Pearson (Legalise Cannabis Part), Richard August Hendrie (The Greens), Roger Woodward (Independent), David Farley (One Nation), Rebecca Scriven (Family First), Lucas James Ellis (Affordable Housing Now - Sustainable Australia Party), Gary Jean Pappin (Independent), and Peter Sinclair (Shooters, Fishers and Farmers).

A recent Meet the Candidates event, in which locals were allowed to ask candidates questions, highlighted items high on the agenda of voters’ minds.

They included mainly health, housing, immigration and water and agriculture topics.

With the absence of a Labor candidate in the coming by-election, many early voters have cast their votes and believe a historic election result, swaying away from the major parties, could be on the cards.

The race to win the seat of Farrer looks likely to be a battle between four candidates Farley, Milthorpe, Butkowski, and Robertson.

However, some internal party polling leaked to the ABC indicates it could be a close contest between the frontrunners, Milthorpe and One Nation.

Polling places in the area include:

Narrandera: John O'Brien Hall, Narrandera High School; Leeton: Leeton Public School, Madonna Place Hall, Parkview Public School, Wamoon Public School;

Yanco Community Hall; Barellan Central School; and Coleambally Central School.

This by-election will see The Nationals contest Farrer for the first time since losing the seat in 2001.

Meanwhile, a total of 11 pre-polling centres have been opened to accept early votes, ahead of the high-profile by-election.

Australian Electoral Commission spokesperson Evan Ekin-Smyth said 50,000 Farrer voters cast early votes in 2025 and he expected half the electorate to do the same before the official polling day on Saturday.

The seat encompasses a large area estimated to be about 126,000 square kilometres, roughly the same size as Greece.

The electorate is the second-largest in the state, covering 15.8 per cent of New South Wales.

Named after a noted wheat breeder, William James Farrer, the seat has been a Coalition stronghold, a safe Liberal seat since Ley first won it in 2001, but the Liberals had a 10 per cent swing against them last year and won on a reduced margin.

The former Nationals’ leader, Tim Fischer, has been one of the high-profile politicians to have held the seat from 1984 to 2001.

The Liberal and National parties have held the seat since it was established in 1949.

Farrer is attracting much attention throughout Australia as it is regarded as the first electoral test for the new Liberal leader and as a measure of the increased One Nation support in regional parts of the state.