Throsby MP Stephen Jones and preselection opponent John Rumble will know by late this afternoon which of them will represent Labor in the seat at the federal election.
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Branch members will today cast their votes in the electorate's long-awaited rank-and-file ballot being held in Dapto and Mittagong.
Throsby and Dobell - the Mid North Coast seat held by former Labor MP Craig Thompson - are the only remaining NSW seats without a preselected Labor candidate.
Nominations for preselection for Dobell opened last week.
Yesterday, both potential Throsby representatives remained confident they had the numbers to win today's ballot.
Dapto nurse John Rumble, from the Right faction, said he expected a tight vote but was "quietly confident of getting over the line".
Wollongong nurse John Rumble plans to seek Labor preselection for Throsby.Mr Jones, who is from Labor's Left and was parachuted into the Throsby seat in 2007, has been calling for a rank-and-file ballot to occur since late last year.
He maintained yesterday he had "very strong support" and expected to be able to get "straight back to representing the electorate" tomorrow.
With the September 14 election looming, University of Wollongong politics lecturer Anthony Ashbolt said he couldn't understand why the Labor Party executive had not intervened to ensure a confirmed candidate sooner.
"Stephen Jones is a good politician, a good parliamentarian with a rising image, and I think it would be unfortunate if the local membership decides to drop him in favour of a candidate who doesn't have the same background," Dr Ashbolt said.
"At the same time Throsby is pretty safe Labor, so I don't know if it matters about one candidate not having the profile - but a scenario could arise whereby disillusionment could turn people to other parties."
Mr Jones and Mr Rumble expect to know their fate by 4pm.
