NSW residents across 81 of 112 councils are voting in elections while the remaining councils, subject to amalgamations, wait until next year.
In the City of Sydney, incumbent independent Lord Mayor Clover Moore is up against the Liberals' Christine Forster, Labor's Linda Scott, The Greens' Lindsay Johnston and Sydney Matters independent Angela Vithoulkas.
Ms Scott cast her vote at Erskinville Public School, with senior federal Labor minister Tanya Plibersek by her side.
"I'm just checking that she voted the Labor ticket," Ms Plibersek said on Saturday.
The school's sausage sizzle team were cooking up a storm, with the recent federal election fresh in their memory.
Sizzle manager Martine Campagna said the July 2 poll was much busier than the council poll.
"The queues were all the way to the front of the school," she said.
"Today is just steady."
Local resident Denise Weelands told AAP she voted for Clover Moore to come back for another term.
"I think she has the best interests of the city at heart," she said.
"The Sydney Park that they've worked on for so long is a masterpiece really.
"She's shown strong leadership against WestConnex."
Polling booths close at 6pm on Saturday and the penalty for failing to vote is $55.
