Counting of early votes will begin today, with a total of 8777 early votes cast at pre-poll centres yet to be included. Some postal votes are also yet to come in. Absent votes cast in other electorates will also be counted this week. Premier-elect Daniel Andrews said on radio station 3AW today that Labor was not conceding Melbourne. "The last advice I had was that things have tightened considerably," he said. Ms Sandell claimed victory on election night, thanking her campaign team and voters for delivering an historic victory to the Greens.

The feeling inside the Labor camp was that the result was too close to call on election night and had remained that way as votes continued to be counted. But the Greens are still confident of winning the prized inner city seat: "Daniel Andrews is in denial, he needs to open his eyes and see that inner Melbourne is going Green," Greens leader Greg Barber said. Votes are still being counted in Morwell, Frankston, Richmond and Prahran where the results are also too close to call. The Greens expect to win up to five seats in the upper house, which Labor won't control. Party leader Greg Barber said the government would "need the Greens to pass bills in the upper house".

Senior Labor strategists have been worried about losing Melbourne for some time, with some conceding the changing demographic in the inner suburbs means the Greens should be able to cement themselves into the spot. The Greens will be eyeing other vulnerable inner-city seats where its vote increased, including Richmond, Prahran, Northcote and Brunswick. Melbourne's inner-city residents, with much higher average income and education than the rest of the state, have proved far less receptive to Labor's cost-of-living campaign, which focused on local schools, roads and hospitals. Concerning for Labor is the fact the Greens did well in Richmond without devoting many resources to the seat. Candidate Kathleen Maltzahn's pitch was much more local and earned her a swing of 2.6 per cent. Despite their strong showing in the inner city, the Greens' statewide vote has barely moved since 2010. When counting resumes on Monday the party's first preference result will be hovering on the same 11 per cent figure it won four years ago.