Elsewhere on Saturday, NATO says Afghan and coalition forces who were pursuing a suspected insurgent have killed an Afghan adult male and a child. The coalition says another adult civilian was wounded.

The alliance says a patrol thought the suspected militant was about to fire a weapon when the shootings happened in the Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar province.

A team of Afghan and coalition members is investigating the shootings.

NATO also says an air strike destroyed an insurgent compound in the Arghandab district of Kandahar province Saturday.

Alliance officials say they believe the compound contained more than 1,200 kilograms of explosives, enough to make 50 bombs.

NATO says Afghan and coalition forces captured a Taliban senior leader Saturday who was a bomb expert. NATO says the Taliban leader, who was apprehended in the village of Kesh-ano Kalachec in Kandahar district, was preparing a suicide attack.

Australia’s newly elected prime minister arrived in Afghanistan Saturday on her first foreign trip as leader. Julia Gillard met with President Hamid Karzai, reassuring him of Canberra’s intention to continue helping the Afghan government meet its security needs.

The Australian leader shared a meal with the Australian troops stationed at Tarin Kowt and paid tribute the 21 Australian troops who have died fighting insurgents in Afghanistan.

The prime minister also met with U.S. General David Petraeus, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan. The two discussed plans for transferring the responsibility for security in Afghanistan to Afghan forces.

The final polls released before the vote began Saturday showed Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the head of the Labor Party, in a virtual tie with the leader of a Liberal Party-led coalition, Tony Abbott.

If she wins, Ms. Gillard will be Australia’s first woman to be elected as prime minister. She replaced Kevin Rudd as Labor leader two months ago amid dwindling voter support for the ruling party.

Watch Final Day Campaigning from Australia’s PM Candidates:

Polls opened at 8 a.m. local time Saturday with more than 14 million citizens eligible to cast ballots.

Ms. Gillard has argued that Labor’s economic policies brought the country through the global recession better than other developed countries. But Mr. Abbott says the party squandered public money on lavish stimulus programs and has also criticized Labor for the way it ousted Mr. Rudd.

The two candidates also disagree on a proposed mining tax and the composition of a new telecommunications infrastructure.

Ms. Gillard has faced a series of political hurdles, including opposition to the proposed mining profits tax, continued weakness in the economy and animosity from some party members for ousting Mr. Rudd.

During the last day of the campaign Thursday, she praised the government’s investment in public services such as health, education and the national broadband network.

Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.