Western Australia's Premier Colin Barnett has met with the state's first female Governor Kerry Sanderson at Government House in Perth to request the issuing of writs for the election.
Mr Barnett is seeking a third term in office for his government when voters go to the polls on March 11.
But a ReachTell survey of 645 people has shown an almost 20 per cent swing against the ruling Liberal Party in the key battleground Perth seat of Joondalup, which could help deliver overall victory to Labor.
The premier seems undaunted by the figures.
"What? The secret poll conducted by the Labor party and released to anyone who wanted it? Give us a break."
Polls have put Labor ahead for nearly 18 months.
Yet opposition leader Mark McGowan says the one that counts is still several weeks away.
"I'm not going to get side-tracked by all of these shenanigans. The real poll is on March 11. I've been working hard as my team has now for years to make sure we offer West Australians a real alternative."
The unemployment rate in Western Australia is at a 15-year high of 6.9 per cent, with debt and the budget deficit also at record levels.
Dr Ian Cook is a senior lecturer in global politics at Murdoch University in Perth.
He says economic management and the premier's leadership are expected to be the main concerns for voters at the election.
"In Western Australian we've had a narrative going on for some time now which goes along the lines of we have this mining boom and yet our budget is deeply in the red. How could we have gone through a mining boom and have a government that's deeply in deficit? Beneath that are questions about Colin Barnett and his leadership. He's been around for you know a long time."
Dr Cook says it is likely the election will bring a change of government.
"The Liberals have been trailling in the polls for the last 18 months and they never really close but never really close so they're behind. Labor needs a 10 per cent swing - which is a big swing - but certainly everyone's saying that's definitely getable. So for the most part it's a government very much on the back foot."
One Nation is another party expected to make gains on election day.
Federal party leader Pauline Hanson says her state candidates have not made preference deals with the Liberals.
"I've done no deals with the Liberal Party. As I said to them, I'm not going to be doing any guarantee that Colin Barnett will win his premiership again whatsoever. My deal is to the people of Western Australia that we will do our best to get as many One Nation candidates selected to parliament."
One Nation's candidate for the seat of Pilbara, David Archibald, is under fire for arguing single mothers and people with disabilities shouldn't receive social security payments.
In a 2015 article published in the journal Quadrant he described single mothers as "too lazy to attract and hold a mate, undoing the work of possibly three million years of evolutionary pressure".
Federal Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese, who was raised by a single mother, told the ABC Mr Archibald should be dumped from the party.
"I had an enormous amount of love and I have nothing but respect for my late mum, and I regard his comments as incredibly personally offensive but more importantly offensive towards all those single parents out there."
With the election writs issued the West Australian government enters a caretaker period during which its decision-making powers are limited.
