MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — Australians go to the polls Saturday in a vote for a constitutional change that, if successful, would guarantee Indigenous people a say in parliament, after a campaign that has been widely criticized for dividing the country through racist undertones.

The latest opinion polls indicate the ‘yes’ campaign is struggling to win over a majority of Australians and four of the six states required to change the constitution, a major setback for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who initially put forward the proposal in March.

Back then more than 60% of the population favored constitutional change but one poll by RedBridge, conducted in late July, found that support has fallen to just 39%.

Surveys by pollsters Morgan and Essential during late September and early October have shown a slight increase towards the ‘yes’ campaign with about 43% in favor of granting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders – two distinct cultural groups – a ‘Voice to Parliament.’

“It’s very exciting and yet very scary,” said Jill Gallagher, a Gunditjmara elder with the Aboriginal community in the southeast state of Victoria, who is advocating a ‘yes’ vote.

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