Australian elections video coverage

(CNN) -- Four-term Australian Prime Minister John Howard faces his most popular challenger ever at elections on November 24, with polls signaling a big swing toward the opposition but the outcome to be decided in a few key districts.

If Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd defeats Howard, it will bring a humiliating end to the career of Australia's second-longest serving prime minister and usher in big changes to Australia's approach to global warming and its troop deployment in Iraq. Rudd has held a commanding lead over Howard for almost a year in trusted opinion polls.

A series of missteps by Howard's conservative Liberal party during the campaign has cemented Labor as the front-runner. But Rudd's party must still gain at least 15 seats in Parliament to have a chance at wresting power from the Liberals. E-mail to a friend