Usually, a news publication will run its 'election special' coverage the morning of the election or perhaps the day before. But today, the Illawarra Mercury is quick on the draw, and we've published our profiles of the election candidates.

The decision didn't come lightly. We've been watching pre-polling with interest. Last year, we learnt from the local elections that people want to vote early. We've seen the pattern repeated this federal election, with one in five already hitting up the polls this week in Whitlam. It was one in four in Gilmore.

Cunningham is lagging, but the number of people choosing to pre-poll is expected to grow as the week goes on. In a federal election, it's the role of the local news publication to inform our readers.

Throughout the last six weeks, we've provided information on important policies to people in the Illawarra, including education, housing, aged care, cost of living and climate change. We've covered pretty much every presser, and our reporters and photographers have spent hours making sure we're keeping people informed.

We also invited every candidate to visit our offices and have a chat with our team. Seven candidates did, and you can read their profiles from here. Our website has all the information about who is standing, why they are standing and what they are standing for.

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