Howard favored for reelection as Australia goes to polls today

Domestic issues overshadowed the Iraq crisis and the threat of international terrorism during the six-week election campaign, which saw Howard focus his attack on the relative inexperience of his main rival, Labor Party leader Mark Latham.

End of campaign opinion polls Friday showed Howard's Liberal-National coalition ahead of the center-left Labor by a margin of three to four points, indicating it was on track to maintain or even expand the eight-seat majority it held in the outgoing 150-member House of Representatives.