The close race for Gilmore has been made even more interesting by the discovery that preferences from the Gerringong booth were accidently directed to the wrong candidates.

We have been told by a number of sources that the preferences were transposed, with Fiona Phillips preferences given to Andrew Constance and vice versa.

If this is correct, it is believed the final result will be down to a handful of votes.

The Electoral Commission is yet to officially comment. Its site shows Mr Constance leading by 306 votes, but the number of misallocated preferences is believed to be 356.