With just days to go before the election, much of the political spotlight this year is focused on the race between Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Coalition Leader Tony Abbott.
But there are more than a thousand candidates running for federal election - and fighting for your attention.
For Emily Dunn, politics is a game of numbers.
The Democratic Labor Party candidate is one of eight candidates for the New South Wales seat of Reid.
She knows the more people she meets, the better her chances are of getting their votes.
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But the 23-year old college student says one of the biggest challenges is the fight for attention.
"I think the media doesn't help because it's always seen as Kevin [Rudd] versus [Tony] Abbott, so it doesn't help matters at all when people get to the polling booth," she says.
Emily Dunn's referring to the fact that most of the political attention is focused on the race for Prime Minister.
Professor of politics at the Australian National University, John Wanna says campaigns are becoming more influenced by US presidential-style campaigns.
"Campaigns are becoming more and more presidential, focused just around the leaders, where the leaders are going and with a large entourage of advisors, media people and the galleries, television studios etc just following them around the country."
But this year there is a record number of candidates are running for federal office - more than 1000.
Those who don't shout for attention are trying to get it the old-fashioned way, by shaking hands and trying to meet as many voters as possible.
57-year Joanna Rzetelski is an independent candidate for the seat of Sydney. She's well aware of the odds against her.
"I'm unknown to the electorate. I have not done this before so this is the first time, that's why I'm doing as much as I can. I campaign on Saturdays in busy locations, I campaign in evening times, I talk to people, I have a website, I answer emails and questions, that's engaging with the community."
But minor party and independent candidates can play an important role in elections, says ANU Professor John Wanna.
"Some of them stand to be vote channelers; they stand to mop up 2,000 to 3,000 vote preferences and then if they can manage to hand out how-to-vote cards in the booths - and remember they may be looking at 20 to 30 booths they've got to staff all day for at least 10 hours - so they've got to have a considerable workforce to manage the how-to-vote card process. And if they don't hand out how-to-vote cards, people won't vote in any disciplined way for them. So if they can do that, then they can hand their preferences to a party they might like."
First-time candidate Joanna Rzetelski says for her, running for office is more about taking part in the process.
"This is not about lose or win, I think it's about getting the message across, trying out and starting the journey."
