A political row is raging over what measure should be used to determine who has won the federal election.

With about 80 per cent of the votes from the inconclusive poll counted, the lead in the two-party preferred standings is see-sawing between Labor and the Coalition.

Labor reclaimed the lead this morning after the Coalition edged ahead by more than 1,900 votes in the count last night.

A recalculation also means eight seats have now been temporarily removed from the count as they do not involve a contest between the two main parties.

Four of the removed seats - O'Connor, Lyne, New England and Kennedy - are broadly conservative, while the seats of Melbourne, Batman, Grayndler and Denison lean towards Labor.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard had been using Labor's lead in the two-party preferred vote to claim a mandate for Labor forming government.

Last night deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop the Coalition claiming the two-party lead meant that Ms Gillard had lost her "moral authority" and "legitimacy" and should admit she had "lost the election".

But this morning Greens leader Bob Brown says the figure is meaningless because eight seats have been taken out of the equation.

"If you look at the whole of Australia and you treat every seat equally, when you do that Labor's ahead and is likely to keep that lead right the way through to the finishing pole," he said.

And ABC election analyst Antony Green has warned the final two-party preferred vote will not be known for several weeks.

Writing in his ABC blog this morning, Mr Green said the AEC's current count was incomplete without all 150 seats included.

"What is now displayed on the AEC's website is a total of the two-party preferred vote in the 142 electorates that have finished as two-party contests. It excludes the eight electorates that did not," he writes.

"That the two-party preferred total displayed on the AEC's website is meaningless can be seen if you tally the members elected in these 142 electorates. You get Coalition 72, Labor 70. Missing are four Independents, a Green, a WA National and two Labor MPs."

He says the reality of forming a government depends ultimately on the numbers in the House.

"The first preference or two-party preferred vote might provide a talking point but both are constitutionally irrelevant to the formation of government."

Independent MP Tony Windsor says the two-party preferred vote is not the key factor for him as he decides how to use the balance of power.

He and the two other incumbents, Bob Katter and Rob Oakeshott, still have "two or three days" of information gathering, he says. They will also meet with senior public servants, heads of departments and lobby groups.

"The main thing I'll be looking for is in relation to stability of governance for the next three years, and that's going to be fairly difficult to find with very tight numbers. That's the main objective in this," Mr Windsor said.

Labor and the Coalition are trying to convince the independents that they will be able to offer stable government.

Labor frontbencher Craig Emerson says his party can give that guarantee because its rules prevent MPs from crossing the floor, while Liberals are free to dissent.

Dr Emerson says Mr Abbott would not have the numbers in his own party to keep his promise to reopen the offshore processing centre at Nauru.

Meanwhile Hobart-based independent MP Andrew Wilkie says the two-party vote count is not relevant to him.

The AEC says the final vote totals are not expected until Friday.

Ms Gillard will be fronting the National Press Club in Canberra today to present her case for leading the nation.