Australian Election Decides Queen’s Right

Australians voted Saturday in an election that will pick a prime minister. In a way, they’re also voting for queen.

Whether Prime Minister Paul Keating will be able to dump Queen Elizabeth II as the continent’s head of state hinges on how his party does in the vote.

As Australia’s 11 million voters began casting their ballots Saturday, it seemed pretty unlikely.

Virtually all polls, pundits, financial markets and bookies predicted Keating and his Labor Party would be ousted by John Howard’s conservative coalition.