The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers drew the coveted first column on the ballot paper.

The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party's chances of snagging two Upper House seats in the next New South Wales Parliament have increased after winning the top spot on the ballot.

Key points: The ballot draw is an advantage for the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party but a disadvantage for One Nation

The Labor and Liberal parties will be next to one another in the centre columns

Nearly 570 candidates nominated for the Legislative Assembly — the third-highest number on record

The party picked up the coveted position during the draw, conducted by the NSW Electoral Commission today, but the order also favours other minor parities including the Greens.

The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers currently holds two Upper House seats, one of which is up for re-election, and the party has increased its vote at every election since 2003.

The party is also running a slate of candidates in the Lower House for the first time and has polled strongly at by-elections.

Being in the first column is a sought-after position because it means the party in that space will pick up additional donkey votes from people who merely number all columns left to right.

The Labor and Liberal parties will be in the two centre positions.

One Nation, which is running former Labor leader Mark Latham as a candidate for the Upper House, will appear last on the lengthy ballot paper.

ABC election analyst Antony Green said 568 candidates had nominated for the 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly — an average of six candidates per seat.

"It's the third-highest number of nominations on record," he said.

Ten candidates have nominated for the crucial Liberal-held seat of Penrith in western Sydney.

The National Party also faces large fields in the state's two largest electorates by area, with 10 candidates in Murray and nine in Barwon.

In the Legislative Council, 346 candidates nominated for 21 vacancies. This was down from 394 in 2015, meaning the ballot paper will have 21 columns.

Green said One Nation was at a disadvantage, and so too were the Christian Democrats and Liberal Democrats, which drew badly at the right-hand end of the ballot.

One Nation should "easily" attract enough votes to elect Mr Latham, he added, but their chances of electing a second member will suffer.

The Coalition could face significant losses in the Legislative Council, Green said.

The 21 seats facing election were last elected at the Coalition's landslide victory in 2011, with the Coalition winning 11 of the 21 seats.

"If the Liberal/National Coalition polls around 35 per cent, it will elect eight members — a loss of three seats," Green said.

"Labor won only five seats from a record low vote in 2011. Labor will gain two [or] maybe three seats."

The Greens have elected two members at every election since 2003, apart from 2011.

One of their three members, Jeremy Buckingham, resigned last year and will contest the 2019 poll as an independent.

Green said the party had suffered internal splits in the last year.

"They should still poll above 7 per cent, ensuring the party again wins two seats," he said.

In the seat of Willoughby, biohacker Meow-Ludo Disco Gamma Meow-Meow — who attracted media attention last year after implanting an Opal card chip into his hand — will run against Premier Gladys Berejiklian.



