When is the election?
The election will be held on Saturday 19 March with voters electing representatives for all 47 seats in the House of Assembly, or lower house, and half of the seats, 11 of the 22, in the Legislative Council, or upper house.
The new line-up will become the 55th Parliament of South Australia.
How does the system work?
As with federal elections, South Australia has compulsory voting so every enrolled and eligible citizen aged 18 years and over must vote or face a fine from the Electoral Commission.
Polling booths will be open from 8am until 6pm and you can find your nearest place to vote by using this interactive .
Step-by-step instructions on how to vote, also available in languages other than English, can be accessed but essentially, the state process is similar to the federal process in that each voter is required to fill out a green paper for the lower house and a white paper for the upper house.
Voters must number their choices in order of preference on the green form (for example, placing a “1” next to their first choice and so on) until all boxes are filled in.
However, on the larger white form, voters may choose to number above the line (fewer candidates) or below the line (all candidates).
If they choose the second option, voters must number at least 12 boxes in order of preference.
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What if I’m affected by COVID-19?
Postal voting closes on March 17 but if people are unwell and isolating due to COVID-19, they can still vote.
Those who are either COVID-19 positive or a close contact are allowed to leave home to collect a ballot pack.
This directive also includes those with symptoms who are waiting on test results. To collect a ballot pack, voters must register via the
People without internet access can call the Electoral Commission of South Australia on 1300 655 232.
Labor leader Peter Malinauskas and wife Annabel arrive at the leaders' debate at the South Australia Press Club on March 10. Source: AAP
COVID-safe voting on the day
Electoral Commissioner Mick Sherry has assured the public that voting on March 19 will be safe given the record number of postal votes this time.
“All polling booths will have socially-distanced queues, sanitisation stations, mandatory mask-wearing, single-use pencils, double-vaccinated electoral officials and hygiene and density control officers in place," he said.
"We're reminding the public to bring their EasyVote card or state election app to the polling booth on election day to speed up the voting process."
Key players
The current Liberal Premier Steven Marshall has held power since his party won the last state election in 2018.
Winning by only two seats, the slender majority later became a minority government last year due to the resignation of sitting politicians and other factors.
Mr Marshall’s main opposition is the Australian Labor Party’s leader in South Australia, Peter Malinauskas.
Mr Marshall was first elected to the South Australian Parliament in the 2010 election in the seat of Norwood while Mr Malinauskas entered Parliament in 2015 by winning the seat of Croydon and held the Police, Emergency and Correctional Services portfolio in the Jay Weatherill Labor government for a year.
SA Premier Steven Marshall at the leaders' debate at the South Australia Press Club in Adelaide on March 10. Source: AAP
The grandson of Hungarian and Lithuanian migrants on his father's side, Mr Malinauskas began his working life as a trolley collector, night fill worker and cashier for Woolworths while also completing a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Adelaide.
While working at the supermarket giant, he became interested in trade unionism, later going on to be secretary of the South Australian/Northern Territory branch of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association.
Mr Marshall began his working life in 1997, managing his family’s furniture business after his father’s retirement.
He went on to achieve a qualification in business from the South Australian Institute of Technology (now known as the University of South Australia) and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Durham University in the United Kingdom.
Aside from the two major parties, 13 other parties will contest seats including The Greens and One Nation as well as a number of independents.
Will election day be remembered for its independents?
Interestingly, the election result could come down to the wire and end up being decided by the five independents running in key lower house seats.
Each has a connection back to either major party: former Labor Minister Geoff Brock; ex-Labor MP Frances Bedford; and former Liberals Sam Duluk, Troy Bell and Fraser Ellis.
Key issues
One of the key issues in the election is the Marshall government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and its decision to close state borders early, an initiative seen as popular with the electorate.
In addition, South Australia has experienced relatively low numbers of COVID-19 cases and fewer deaths when compared to larger eastern states such as New South Wales and Victoria.
As for Labor, it is promising a more forward-thinking agenda with big spending on health and the environment.
Aside from COVID-19, health has proved a controversial subject in the campaign due to problems with getting ambulances out to people and a number of deaths due to excessive waiting times.
The Ambulance Union has called out the Liberal government over hundreds of Triple Zero calls going unanswered and dozens of patients with life-threatening conditions lying in ambulances queued, also known as “ramping”, waiting for hospital beds.
If elected, Labor has promised immediate action on health including 350 extra ambulance officers, 300 more nurses, 100 additional doctors, 300 extra hospital beds and 10 major hospital upgrades.
The Liberals are also running on what they claim has been their sound economic management of the state over the past four years.
A year ago, the state’s growth rate outstripped the nation’s, which has been repeatedly highlighted by Mr Marshall throughout the campaign.
This, combined with the lowest unemployment rate in 40 years and unprecedented net migration to SA of 8000 people a year for the past five years (from both interstate and overseas), now feature heavily in Mr Marshall’s pitch to voters.
Mr Marshall also “dazzled” voters with a recent announcement of a space industry development on the site of the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site in the centre of the CBD.
On the other hand, the ALP has done some “dazzling” of its own, announcing a $600 million environmental initiative of a green hydrogen power plant in the famous old steel town of Whyalla, South Australia's fourth-biggest city.
This is just one piece of the ALP’s strong environmental platform going into the election with other promises being to scrap the Marshall government’s tax on electric vehicles (EVs), encouraging more citizens to move to the far more sustainable option.
This promise is sure to resonate with voters given the current soaring and ultimately unsustainable petrol prices around the nation.
Mr Malinauskas has also promised to redevelop the popular Adelaide Aquatic Centre in North Adelaide if Labor is elected on Saturday.
His campaign included footage of himself teaching one of his young daughters to swim at the centre, a video that has proven a hit with the electorate based on the cuteness factor alone.